With the rip-roaring success of Fast & Furious 6, there has been a sudden cinematic vacuum formed that must be filled. Comic book adaptations and fast car movies are the current hot properties, and are to be snapped up wherever and whenever. They can’t all be a success (Turbo opened to disappointing numbers, and Man of Steel seems to have disappointed practically everybody) but they all make their money back in the long run.
A Gran Turismo adaptation was always bound to happen – one of the most critically lauded racing games of all time, it had enough speed to make for an appealing cinematic spectacle alongside enough anonymity to plaster whatever idiotic story the greatest minds in Hollywood could cobble together from various optioned properties since the first Fast and the Furious took off. That those minds are Mike De Luca and Dana Brunetti, also behind Sam Taylor-Johnson’s Fifty Shades of Grey adaptation, is surprising but proof positive of their unerring ability to find gold in any product, and work in any genre. No adaptation lies beyond their grasp. It’s a Sony property, so there’s no worries there either. A solid team all round.
There’s a few car-based actioners in the pipeline, so Gran Turismo will have quite the battle on release – there’s Scott Waugh’s Need For Speed, starring Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul, for Dreamworks; the next installment in Universal’s aforementioned never-ending turd machine, Fast & Furious 7; and Hot Wheels, to be directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo or Simon Crane, for Legendary.
What Gran Turismo has that the others perhaps lack is gamer name recognition, which could open up the market somewhat. While older fans may not want to go see Fast & Furious 7 or Need for Speed in the cinema, the sheer retro factor of Gran Turismo might just make it a runaway success. After all, it worked for Battleship.
No word on a release date for Gran Turismo, obviously. No director or stars either. We’ll keep you posted.
