Gran Turismo is almost in theaters, but some may wonder what is the deal with the “based on a true story” aspect. You see, unlike recent video game adaptation success stories like The Super Mario Bros. Movie and The Last of Us, Gran Turismo is not actually a work of fiction, nor does it have a preoccupation with a fungus of some kind.
As incredible as it sounds, Gran Turismo is actually based on the life of a prolific gamer who entered a competition in order to gain the chance to become a real-life racer. In the film, directed by Neil Blomkamp, Archie Madekwe portrays the race car driver Jann Mardenborough.
Who is Jahn Mardenborough?
Back in 2011, Mardenborough achieved the incredible feat of beating out 90,000 other gamers from across Europe to secure his crown with the Gran Turismo Academy. From that point on, he began training in order to become an international race driver for real.
Rather than floundering the opportunity, Mardenborough proved to be a rising talent in his field. By 23, he had achieved wins at the Le Mans 24 Hours, the Arden International in GP3, and was even hand-picked by Nissan to operate a prototype car for official races at one point.
As Mardenborough’s career progressed, it took various twists and turns, including a fatal tragedy that would forever affect him. Back in 2015, he was involved in an accident on the track that resulted in a collision and one spectator being killed. According to a report by The Guardian, “Several other spectators were injured” and hospitalized.
Though Mardenborough was seen outside his car and standing next to it after the incident, he too was “taken to hospital for routine checks after being assessed at the circuit’s medical facility.”. The event clearly stayed with him years later, even after he went on to continue in his racing career.
When approached about the prospect of turning his life story into a movie, Mardeborough was reportedly adamant that the filmmakers do not skip over the tragic events that helped define his life. As he told Driving (via Yahoo Life):
“It’s my life; it’s part of my story […] So I feel it would have been a disservice for the audience for that not to be in there. I made sure all of us that were with the production – the producers, Jason [Hall] the scriptwriter – that that was how it went down. Because it needed to be correct because somebody lost their life in this accident. And the movie does a great job of that.”
In fact, Mardenborough was so involved with the production of the film that he even served as Madekwe’s stunt double.
Gran Turismo comes racing into theaters on August 25.