‘Gran Turismo’ Star David Harbour Paid Homage to Sports Movie Classics: ‘I Want to Remake Them Without Remaking Them’ (Video)
“Gran Turismo,” based in part on the popular video game but also the real-life story of a gamer (played in the film by Archie Madekwe) who wins a tournament and becomes a real-life driver, is more of an old school sports movie than a high-tech video game adaptation. Think “The Karate Kid” more than “Detective Pikachu.” And what is a sports movie without a gruff but loving trainer/coach character? And who better than to play that role than David Harbour? TheWrap spoke to Harbour and Madekwe (before the SAG-AFTRA strike) about the movie and inhabiting those classic sports movie roles. You can watch the full video above.
“For me, ‘Hoosiers’ was really big. I think we all have these movies that we grew up with, that we love so much. I want to remake them without remaking them. I want the younger generation to experience the thrill I had when Gene Hackman took out his measuring tape and measured it 10 feet,” Harbour said. “I know the younger generation won’t watch those movies because they’re old movies. And it’s never really been done with racing before. There have been good racing movies but not of this quality, where it’s not just an underdog story, it’s a no-dog story. He’s literally a guy on a couch playing video games. It’s not like he was even racing little cars in little league. He was playing a video game and he round up racing at Le Mans. It’s an insane wish-fulfillment story. That’s really exciting as well.”
And true to form Madekwe still hasn’t watched “Hoosiers.” “I was always thinking, God, I’ve got to watch this film, because he spoke about it so much. And I still haven’t watched the film,” he admitted.
“Gran Turismo,” which is directed by “District 9” filmmaker Neill Blomkamp and also stars Orlando Bloom, Djimon Hounsou, Geri Halliwell and Darren Barnet is in theaters now.
The post ‘Gran Turismo’ Star David Harbour Paid Homage to Sports Movie Classics: ‘I Want to Remake Them Without Remaking Them’ (Video) appeared first on TheWrap.
