For the past few months, we've been hearing reports about Sony Pictures and PlayStation Productions' development of the film adaptation of the popular racing video game Gran Turismo which is set to release next year. The details of the project have remained quiet for some time. Now, it looks like they have found one of its leads.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Stranger Things star David Harbour has been tapped to lead the film adaptation of Gran Turismo. He will be playing a retired driver who teaches the main teen character to drive.
District 9 director Neil Blomkamp is helming the film. Jason Hall and Zach Baylin wrote the screenplay. Asad Qizilbash, Carter Swan, Doug Belgrad, and Dana Brunetti are serving as producers. Kazunori Yamauchi, who created the game, serves as one of the executive producers.
The film's logline reads: "Based on a true story, the film is the ultimate wish fulfillment tale of a teenage Gran Turismo player whose gaming skills won a series of Nissan competitions to become an actual professional race car driver."
In case you're not familiar with the source material, Gran Turismo is a series of racing simulation video games that launched in 1997 and has since then sold over 85 million units worldwide making it the highest-selling video game franchise under the PlayStation brand. It is being hailed as one of the best racing video games thanks to its graphic, the number of licensed vehicles that you can play, attention to detail, and accurate physics.
Harbour is certainly a great choice as one of the leads of the film since he is a wonderful actor as he has proven in his roles in Stranger Things and in the MCU. The role also sounds like it is right up his alley. It would be curious to see who they will cast on the other major roles to join Harbour.
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Gran Turismo is slated for release in theaters on August 11, 2023.