Stranger Things star David Harbour has heaped praise on Gran Turismo director Neill Blomkamp, and teased the visceral nature of the upcoming (and somewhat unexpected) video game adaptation. Speaking with Collider, Harbour had nothing but great things to say about Blomkamp, who is best known for the sci-fi outings District 9 and Elysium, and declared that Gran Turismo is nothing like what audiences might expect.
"Neill is so cool and such a good director that it's really been a joy to work on this movie, and this movie's going to be... Talk about not what you expect, with him at the helm there's a visceralness to this movie, to this video game world that is so cool. I can't wait for you to see this movie."
The unexpected approach to Gran Turismo, which will be based on the PlayStation series of racing simulation video games, is best teased by the movie’s official synopsis. "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," the logline reads.
Filming on Gran Turismo has now begun, with Sony recently releasing the following statement to mark the movie going before cameras, "Filming is now underway on Gran Turismo — based on the inspiring true story of a Gran Turismo player, Jann Mardenborough, who won a series of gaming competitions leading him to become an actual professional racecar driver.”
The video game adaptation set to be written by Jason Hall and Zach Baylin and directed by Neill Blomkamp. The project sees Midsommar star Archie Madekwe take the lead alongside David Harbour and Pirates of the Caribbean and The Lord of the Rings star Orlando Bloom. The rest of the cast includes Darren Barnet, Djimon Hounsou, Geri Halliwell-Horner, Daniel Puig, Josha Stradowski, and Thomas Kretschmann.
David Harbour Will Next Play a Savage Santa in Violent Night
Before joining the video game fray with Gran Turismo, David Harbour will first lead the festive action flick, Violent Night. The unorthodox Christmas movie finds Harbour’s Santa reaching into his sack and bringing out the big guns after a team of elite mercenaries breaks into a wealthy family compound on Christmas Eve, taking everyone inside hostage. But the team isn’t prepared for a surprise combatant: Santa Claus (Harbour) is on the grounds, and he’s about to show why this Nick is no saint.
From the creators of John Wick and described as a "coal-dark holiday thriller that says you should always bet on red," Violent Night is directed by Tommy Wirkola (The Trip, Dead Snow) from an original screenplay written by Pat Casey and Josh Miller. Violent Night stars John Leguizamo (Encanto, John Wick: Chapter 2), Beverly D'Angelo (National Lampoon's Vacation, Vacation), Alex Hassell (The Tragedy of Macbeth), Alexis Louder (Copshop), Edi Patterson (The Righteous Gemstones), Cam Gigandet (Twilight, Without Remorse), and André Eriksen (Vikings) alongside David Harbour as Santa Claus.
Violent Night is scheduled to be released in the United States on December 2, 2022, by Universal Pictures. Gran Turismo, meanwhile, will be released on August 11, 2023.