David Harbour, who is best known as Jim Hopper in Stranger Things, has the starring role in the upcoming Gran Turismo movie, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Neill Blomkamp is directing. He generally does sci-fi films like District 9, Elysium, and Chappie. The film's scheduled theatrical release date is August 11, 2023.
The Gran Turismo movie's plot is an adaptation of a true story about a teenage player of the game who wins a series of Nissan competitions to become a professional race car driver. Harbour plays a retired racer who coaches the teen.
Gallery: Gran Turismo 7 State of Play Event
Harbour is the only cast member the production is announcing so far. It's not yet clear who is playing the young driver.
While the Hollywood Reporter doesn't call it out by name, the competition in the movie sounds a lot like the GT Academy. It had sponsorship from Nissan and let Gran Turismo players train to become a professional racer. Some of the winners went on to real-world success like Lucas Ordóñez who scored second- and third-place finishes in class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The Gran Turismo movie's two writers have impressive credits. Jason Hall earned an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay for his work on American Sniper. Zach Baylin got an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay for King Richard. He also worked on the upcoming Creed III.
Gran Turismo creator Kazunori Yamauchi will be among the film's executive producers.
Gran Turismo 7 is the latest installment in the long-running racing game franchise. It arrived on the PlayStation 4 and 5 on March 4, 2022. At launch, players had access to over 400 cars, and that figure has only increased with subsequent updates.
Sony is increasingly adapting its video game franchises for other media. The Uncharted film came out earlier this year. The company also announced a Twisted Metal TV series to stream on Peacock with Anthony Mackie as the star.
