The film adaptation of Playstation’s highly successful “Gran Turismo” video game franchise has officially wrapped. Filming, which has been taking place in Budapest, Hungary, came to a close on Wednesday.
Various stunt people, actor Orland Bloom, and the film’s director Neill Blomkamp confirmed the production wrap via social media posts. For a fast-racing action film, the project appeared to have been a quite breezy affair, with production only beginning in late October and Sony only confirming its start back in early November.
Blomkamp wrote in a social media post: “That’s a wrap! For someone who loves cars as much as I do, I never thought I would direct a film centered around them. Had an amazing time shooting this, thanks to all the incredible cast and crew who made it come together. Flying out of Tokyo now to start thinking about editing.”
Bloom, who plays a motorsport marketing executive in the film and something of an antagonist, says “This was fun from start to finish in any weather. Grateful. Mad respect for Neill Blomkamp, his crew, and the stellar cast he brought together.”
The project avoids the “Need for Speed” route of building a fictional crime drama narrative around a racing game. Instead, it’s an aspirational drama inspired by a true story.
Archie Madekwe stars as a teenage Gran Turismo player whose gaming skills were good enough that he won a series of competitions to become an actual professional race car driver. Along with Bloom there’s David Harbour as his mentor, Djimon Hounsou and Geri Halliwell-Horner as his parents, Daniel Puig as his brother, Josha Stradowski as a rival driver, Thomas Kretschmann as that rival’s father, and Darren Barnett as an Academy driver intimidated by the kid.
The wrap comes as the racing simulator franchise celebrates its 25th anniversary today – launching back on December 23rd 1997 and going on to sell more than 90 million copies across eight games for five different PlayStation consoles.
“Gran Turismo” is scheduled to reach the finish line at cinemas on August 11th 2023.
