After the resounding success of HBO’s The Last of Us starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey and Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg‘s Uncharted movie in 2022, PlayStation Productions has brought another of its iconic gaming franchises to live-action with Gran Turismo. However, since the driving simulator doesn’t have a story mode to adapt, the movie dramatizes the real-life journey of Jann Mardenborough, a gamer turned into a real racer, thanks to the conjoined efforts of Sony and Nissan. As a biopic, Gran Turismo mostly follows Mardenborough’s story. Gran Turismo, which stars David Harbour, Orlando Bloom, and Archie Madekwe, has enough fictional differences to keep fans guessing until the end. Let’s break down the main plot points and discuss what happens at the end.
What Was the Gran Turismo Academy?
The story of Gran Turismo begins when Nissan’s motorsports marketing executive Danny Moore (Orlando Bloom) comes up with a plan to ignite the passion of driving into the hearts of a new generation of consumers. Danny wants to offer the massive player base of the Gran Turismo game the opportunity to become a real racer by founding the Gran Turismo Academy and training the best gamers in the world to take up the wheels of real racing cars. To ensure the safety of the process, Danny brings in chief engineer Jack Salter (David Harbour), who was once a prominent racer who now works as a mechanic.
Jack is charged with the training process and ensuring that one of the simulator drivers can become a champion for Nissan, winning prizes for the car company in some of the world’s most challenging tracks. To kick off the GT Academy, Danny tracks down Gran Turismo players who set international records in tracks of the game. This select group of gamers gets an invitation to participate in an online contest to determine who will be invited to the GT Academy. That’s the opportunity Jann (Archie Madekwe) has waited for his whole life, as the gamer has been dreaming about becoming a professional racer since he was only five years old.
Since he spent thousands of hours in front of a screen playing Gran Turismo, Jann doesn’t have much trouble winning the online contest and getting one of the ten spots in GT Academy. So, despite Jann’s father, Steve Mardenborough (Djimon Hounsou), thinking the boy is foolish to follow his dream, Jann goes to the GT Academy. After weeks of intense training, Jann and the four top members of GT Academy have an actual race to decide who’ll be Nissan’s champion. Jann wins the race, finishing before everyone’s favorite Matty (Darren Barnet) by a few centimeters. For a moment, Danny wants to give Matty the victory, as his best with the press and the GT Academy is a marketing experiment. However, Jack forces Danny to respect the race result, crowing Jann as the true champion.
After graduating from Gran Turismo Academy, Jann signed a contract with Nissan. That’s only the first step in the young man’s career, as to be considered a professional driver, he must acquire a special license that’s only granted to the people who finish any official track at least in fourth position. So, Jann started to race in the European circuit, hoping to get his license and get funding to represent Nissan in Dubai’s 24-hour competition, one of the most prestigious races in the world. Unfortunately, the professional drivers, led by the mischievous Nicholas Capa (Josha Stradowski), don’t want to share the tracks with a gamer. So, they do everything they can to sabotage Jann, including putting his life in danger. It takes six races for Jann to finish in fourth position and win his professional license, proving everyone wrong. From that moment on, he’s unquestionably a racing athlete.
Why Did Jack Salter Stop Racing?
Jann’s first race after getting his license happens at the Nürburgring in Germany, a track known for how dangerous it can get when the wind blows too hard. Unfortunately, while doing a risky maneuver, Jann loses control of his car and gets involved in an accident that takes a spectator’s life. Jann is traumatized by the experience and considers dropping his driving career. He’s stopped by Jack, who reveals why he quit the sport many years prior. Like Jann, Jack got involved in an accident that claimed another person’s life, one of his fellow drivers. After that, Jack decided he would never take the wheels of a racing car again. That’s a decision that Jack regrets, as he lost the opportunity to discover how great he could have been. So, Jack convinces Jann to keep racing, as the sport defines who they are.
Moved by Jack’s words, Jann decides to give the racing gig another try. There’s just one issue, though. The professional drivers are using Jann’s accident as an excuse to ban sim drivers from the professional circuits, and Nissan is considering stopping financing the GT Academy. To revert this disastrous process, Danny tells Jann they must reach the podium at Le Mans during the French circuit’s 24-hour race. Danny calls Matty and Antonio (Pepe Barroso) from the GT Academy to back up Jann, as each team needs three drivers to compete. Together, they hold the future of sim-driving in their hands.
What Happens During the Le Mans Race?
Jann, Matty, and Antonio take shifts behind the wheel to preserve their physician integrity. Since Jann is supposed to drive more than his colleagues, as he has more experience, he starts the race to have the time to get some sleep before coming back for the final laps. Everything is going well until Jann witnesses a horrifying accident involving another car. After that, the young driver freezes, thinking about the unfortunate Nürburgring affair. Jack helps Jann snap back to reality by playing Kenny G on their radio, an artist Jann always uses to calm his nerves. After that, Le Mans becomes a race against the clock as Nissan’s sim drivers endure long hours while catching up to their adversaries.
As day turns into night, Jann, Matty, and Antonio slowly pick up the pace, conquering a fifth position. Unfortunately, Antonio begins to cramp, forcing Jann to return to the car sooner than expected. To make things worse, there’s a problem with the pit stop when a mechanic changes one of the car’s tires, which quickly makes Nissan’s team lose all the progress they made during the night. Jann’s only way to win is to follow his instincts and use the shortcuts he learned playing Gran Turismo to overtake his opponents. It’s a dangerous strategy, but Jack trusts the young driver’s guts and supports his strategy.
In the final hours of the competition, Jann climbs the ranking ladder, one position at a time. The decisive moment happens in the last lap when Jann gets the third opposition after masterfully overtaking Nicholas Capa. Nissan sim drivers climb Le Man’s podium, making history and proving that gamers can be turned into athletes. Jann and his father also make amends, with Steve telling his son how proud he is of his victories. The movie is over, but that was just the beginning of Jann’s career, as he would continue as a racer, competing in over 200 races, and even become a stunt double for Archie Madekwe in Gran Turismo.
The Big Picture
- Gran Turismo is a live-action adaptation of the iconic gaming franchise that tells the real-life story of Jann Mardenborough, a gamer turned professional racer through the GT Academy.
- The movie follows Jann’s journey from winning an online contest to becoming Nissan’s champion, acquiring a special license, and facing challenges from professional drivers.
- Jann’s racing career faces setbacks, including a traumatic accident, but with the support of his mentor Jack, he overcomes obstacles and ultimately proves himself as a racing athlete at Le Mans.
