We’re living in an age of IP-based projects, and if the critical and commercial success of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie movie is any indication, that particular trend is not going away any time soon. Every toy company and video game manufacturer is currently setting out to build its own cinematic universe based on its own products.
Gran Turismo, the new sports movie based on the PlayStation game, is just one example of how even the most plotless of media properties can be spun out into crowd-pleasing popcorn fare. Directed by Neill Blomkamp (District 9, Elysium) and written by Jason Hall (American Sniper) and Zach Baylin (King Richard, Creed III), Gran Turismo tells the true story of Jann Mardenborough.
Mardenborough (played by Archie Madekwe in the movie) was a passionate teenage player of the racing simulator game who dreamed of a life as a motorsports driver, but whose financial circumstances closed off that route to him. However, Mardenborough participated in the very real GT Academy program and ended up winning a racing contract with Nissan, launching a legitimate career as a professional racer.
Could Gran Turismo be the first installment in a wider franchise based on PlayStation’s game series? So far, no sequels or spinoffs have been announced, and the movie’s story is pretty self-contained, hitting every milestone that you’d expect from an underdog’s rise to the podium.
Is there a post-credit scene in Gran Turismo?
An additional sequence in the middle of or at the end of the credits has become the de facto tool used by filmmakers to tease future movies. Gran Turismo doesn’t deploy this particular trick; there are no post-credit scenes. However, the credit sequence does include footage of video game engineers working to make the cars in the Gran Turismo games as accurate as possible—one of the traits that the series has been frequently praised for.
Philip Ellis is News Editor at Men’s Health, covering fitness, pop culture, sex and relationships, and LGBTQ+ issues. His work has appeared in GQ, Teen Vogue, Man Repeller and MTV, and he is the author of Love & Other Scams.
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