Following up on the TV success of The Last of Us on HBO and Twisted Metal on Peacock, Sony Pictures and PlayStation Productions have one more big video game adaptation in 2023: Gran Turismo. But this is an unusual video game movie in that it’s not based on the actual game. Instead, it adapts the real story of a professional racer, Jann Mardenborough, a young man whose skills were honed while playing the Gran Turismo video games long before he got the chance to get behind the wheel of a high-powered race car.
Archie Madekwe headlines the film as Mardenborough, and he’s joined by two genre veterans, The Lord of the Rings‘ Orlando Bloom and Stranger Things‘ David Harbour, to carry the rest of the story. Bloom plays Danny Moore, a Nissan marketing executive who sees the potential of turning Gran Turismo players into pro racers, while Harbour’s Jack Slater is a former racer-turned-trainer who isn’t convinced that any of the gamers can ever make the leap from fantasy to reality.
Neill Blomkamp directed the film from a screenplay by Jason Hall and Zach Baylin. Hall also shares story credit for the film with Alex Tse.
Now, we’ll answer your burning question about Gran Turismo and whether you can stream it now.
Is Gran Turismo streaming?
No, not yet. In fact, there’s a good chance that it’s not even in theaters near you right now. Because of the SAG-AFTRA strike, actors are not allowed to promote their new and upcoming projects. And since the Gran Turismo cast wasn’t available to make a final promotional push for the film, Sony opted to push back the final release date from August 11 to August 25.
Sony still went forward with a limited release for the film on Friday, August 11, in the hope that Gran Turismo can build up some good word of mouth. Whether that will work remains to be seen.
Will Gran Turismo be available to stream at home?
Yes, but it may not arrive on streaming until early next year. Sony Pictures has set up a deal with Netflix for a “first window” streaming release for its theatrical movies, which usually falls within five-to-eight months after a film’s theatrical debut. Under that timeline, Gran Turismo could arrive on Netflix anywhere from January 2024 to April 2024.
Further down the line, Gran Turismo will go from Netflix to Disney+ or Hulu under Sony’s “second window” deal with Disney. But for this particular film, that time may not arrive until 2025.
