FILM · 2023 · USA
Gran Turismo
24 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (24)
- #001
Jann Mardenborough gave the producers permission to include the 2015 crash at the Nürburgring Nordschleife that killed one person in the film. He felt that leaving it out would do the audience a disservice.
- #002
Jann Mardenborough serves as a stunt double for the actor who plays him in the film.
- #003
Orlando Bloom's character Danny Moore is inspired by the real-life Darren Cox. A former Nissan Europe executive, Cox founded GT Academy in 2008 to help Sony PlayStation give racing gamers the chance to become professional racing drivers.
- #004
Darren Barnet's character Matty Davis is broadly inspired by the real-life Brian Heitkotter, who won GT Academy in 2011 alongside Jann Mardenborough.
- #005
One of the other major VFX challenges was that, although many of the cars featured in the film are the correct cars, the production could not shoot the film's 24 Heures du Mans race scene at Le Mans. This meant no filming, scanning, photography or photogrammetry could be done in that area. Instead, visual effects would create Le Mans based on race footage shot in Hungary and additional CG structures.
- #006
Local South African professional racing driver and sim racer David Perel offered to help director Neil Blomkamp via a cold email. Blomkamp replied within 5 minutes, and over the following 7 months Perel had the opportunity to advise on all racing-related matters on set.
- #007
Englishman Jann Mardenborough became the third winner of GT Academy in the 2011 season, after Spain's Lucas Ordoñez in 2008 and France's Jordan Tresson in 2010 (no 2009 season was held).
- #008
Most of the film's racing scenes were shot at the Hungaroring in Hungary, standing in for various different tracks. Most notably, the Hungaroring substitutes for Silverstone in the GT Academy sequences (the drivers race the track in the opposite direction to conceal the real location) and during Le Mans, where many different corners of the Hungaroring are used; the final corner is the most noticeably different from the real-life layout of the Circuit de la Sarthe, despite set decoration and digital backgrounds added to conceal its location.
- #009
Gran Turismo was shot at real racing circuits around the world, including the Slovakia Ring in Slovakia, the Dubai Autodrome, the Nürburgring, the Red Bull Ring in Austria and the Hungaroring in Hungary.
- #010
Because of the death, the film drew criticism for playing with the facts by implying that Jann's crash affected his drive at Le Mans. The wreck occurred two years after Le Mans. The victim, Andy Gehrmann, was a 49-year-old Dutchman from Heerlen.
- #011
Pepe Barroso's character Antonio Cruz is broadly inspired by the real-life Lucas Ordoñez. A Spanish racing gamer, he was the first winner of GT Academy and, after the Academy, delivered a memorable performance at the 2009 Dubai 24 Hours that led Nissan to select Ordóñez as a professional racing driver.
- #012
It is inspired by the true story of Gran Turismo player Jann Mardenborough, a professional racing driver.
- #013
David Harbour's character Jack Salter is not real but a composite of different real-life figures.
- #014
GT Academy Europe (2008) was cancelled in 2016. Its offshoots GT Academy International (2008) and GT Academy USA (2011) ended the same year.
- #015
Digital cars were also used for major crashes, including the Mardenborough crash at the Nürburgring Nordschleife. The airborne moment was not one the production intended to film practically and, for safety and logistical reasons, it tried to replicate it digitally one-to-one.
- #016
Screenwriter Zach Baylin cited Rocky (1976) and Top Gun (1986) as influences on this film.
- #017
Michelin is the film's official tire partner and supplied all the necessary tires for every car in the film, such as the Pilot Sport 4S and Pilot Sport Cup 2 R, which can now be seen on the big screen.
- #018
Former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell is married in real life to Christian Horner, team principal of the Formula 1 team Red Bull. After they married in 2015, she changed her name to Geri Halliwell-Horner. In the film she is credited as Geri Halliwell Horner.
- #019
Although Gran Turismo opened at No. 1 in North America with $17 million according to Sony's box office report, the result was met with skepticism in the industry because Sony included earnings from roughly two weeks of preview screenings in its Friday ticket revenue, adding up to $5.3 million; studios typically count only a single day of previews (usually Thursday) in their Friday figures. The film's "pure" opening weekend was therefore $12.1 million, or $13.2 million counting only Thursday showings, less than Barbie (2023) ($15 million) and Blue Beetle (2023) ($12.2 million). Warner Bros. claimed that Barbie had actually won the weekend.
- #020
It is Neill Blomkamp's first PG-13 film.
- #021
It is Neill Blomkamp's fourth film released by Sony Pictures, after District 9 (2009), Elysium (2013) and Chappie (2015). It is also the second film Blomkamp directed to be released under Sony's Columbia Pictures label.
- #022
Joseph Kosinski was in talks to direct in 2015, but he ultimately left the project.
- #023
Epilogue: "Jann Mardenborough and Team Nissan's success at Le Mans changed motorsport forever. Jann has raced in more than 200 races to date. Before every major race, Jann still listens to Kenny G and Enya to relax. He also performed his own stunts in this film."
- #024
Gran Turismo is a 2023 American biographical sports drama film based on the sim racing video game series developed by Polyphony Digital. Produced by Columbia Pictures, PlayStation Productions and 2.0 Entertainment, the film was directed by Neill Blomkamp from a screenplay by Jason Hall and Zach Baylin. It tells a sensationalized account of the real-life British driver Jann Mardenborough, a young Gran Turismo player who became a professional racing driver. The film stars Archie Madekwe as Mardenborough, alongside David Harbour, Orlando Bloom, Darren Barnet, Geri Halliwell-Horner and Djimon Hounsou.
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