Sony announced that Gran Turismo video game series would be producing a movie, prompting fans to wonder how it would come together. They might be surprised to learn that it is based on real events. Archie Madekwe plays Jann Mardenborough, an exceptionally gifted teenage gamer whose incredible gaming skills led him to victory at Sony and Nissan's GT Academy competition and earned him professional racing opportunities. Jann Mardenborough’s Story Sony Pictures first unveiled that Gran Turismo would be getting its own feature-length movie when they announced it as part of their PlayStation prestige series, suggesting the plot would focus on an aspiring racer who went from playing "Gran Turismo" video games to becoming a professional driver. Unfortunately for fans of PlayStation's prestige series who may be unfamiliar with Jann Mardenborough's true tale as an aspiring driver may not realize this fact! Mardenborough began playing the Gran Turismo series as a child, yet didn't compete in real-world racing competitions until 2011. GT Academy provided contestants who had played Gran Turismo an opportunity to test their virtual driving skills on real tracks. Nissan sponsored this competition which offered virtual racing licenses as prizes to contestants who successfully completed multiple levels in Gran Turismo series and ultimately made an appearance. After winning the GT Academy competition at 19 years old, Mardenborough applied his virtual racing expertise into real life professional racing. Since then he has become a professional racer, competing at 24 Hours of Le Mans as well as Formula 3 European Championship, GP3 series and Super GTs races in Japan. Mardenborough's journey from video game prodigy to real-life driver is truly inspiring and can motivate any racing enthusiast or fan of "Gran Turismo". He hopes his journey can inspire others to pursue their goals despite any difficulties they may encounter along the way. Mardenborough told The Drive that his introduction to video game racing came through his father, a professional soccer player. According to Mardenborough, his father taught him perseverance and drive which helped fuel his passion for racing. Due to his experience, Mardenborough was able to overcome a number of barriers and obstacles that threatened his dream. Instead, he focused on honing his driving skills quickly while learning from mistakes quickly. From Gamer to Racer Moviegoers have seen numerous movies about gamers turning into famous musicians or Minecraft enthusiasts suddenly becoming architects - but few films have explored the unlikely journey of one gamer's journey from playing virtual racing games to becoming an actual race car driver. It is an inspiring tale, made even more so when learning that this film is actually based on real events. Sony and Nissan collaborated in 2008 to form GT Academy, an annual competition which brought together some of the finest gaming talent worldwide. Lucas Ordonez became a professional racing driver - taking first place at Le Mans as well. The program soon expanded to encompass the UAE's Dubai 24 Hours race and used virtual drivers as a recruitment mechanism for real cars, leading to numerous gamesr-to-racer success stories. Mardenborough is one of these storybook characters and now prepares to star in a biopic film directed by Neill Blomkamp based on his life story. Archie Madekwe will play him alongside David Harbour as his trainer Jack Salter. As a kid, Mardenborough enjoyed playing video games like Gran Turismo. Being an avid driver himself, winning this competition opened up numerous doors of opportunity for him. Since starting training with RJN Motorsport, he has won his first big race competition - an opportunity to drive an actual sports car! Since then he has gone on to compete in multiple races such as Le Mans 24 Hours Race. After winning his competition, Mardenborough worked diligently to improve his driving skill set and become an even greater racer. He wanted to demonstrate that gaming skills could transfer directly into real life racing situations. With help from his training team and PR guy, he finally had the chance to use what he learned in Gt and race as an actual driver - an extraordinary experience he hopes the film will encourage young people everywhere to follow their dreams and go for them! Mardenborough’s Journey Motorsport's history is littered with tales of prodigies turning virtual racing skills into real life professional racing - but one story stands out for being particularly inspiring and heartening: that of Jann Mardenborough, winner of GT Academy eSports competition in 2011. Before winning Gran Turismo on PlayStation, he had never driven on an actual racetrack; yet everyone who witnessed his live events clearly saw that his skill in video games was just as potent as that in real cars. Mardenborough became the youngest-ever winner of Nissan's Driver Development programme, beating 90,000 other participants and becoming a professional racing driver after this incredible accomplishment. But getting there wasn't an easy feat: Mardenborough underwent an intense training program and constant judging from coaches and judges to stay at the top. Even those who had experience racing real cars weren't always fast starters when it came to online racing - Mardenborough knew this would require him to prepare himself properly for what would come. Mardenborough had the support of Nissan to fund his driver development. The British driver quickly rose through the ranks, gaining experience driving LMP2 sports cars (where his speed qualified him as an amateur-rated driver in British GT Championship), F3, and eventually GP3, where he won at Hockenheim. Since then, Mardenborough has established himself in racing. For Arden International he competes in both Formula 3 European Championship and GP2 Series races; Toyota Racing Series competition as well as endurance events like 24 Hours of Le Mans are also among his accomplishments. Mardenborough's journey from an eSports tournament to his rise through the ranks demonstrates his passion for driving and determination for success. His life story serves as the inspiration for a film on his life starring Archie Madekwe and David Harbour from Stranger Things as well as Orlando Bloom, Geri Halliwell-Horner, Djimon Hounsou and Darren Barnet. Mardenborough’s Goals Mardenborough set out with one goal in mind - testing his mettle against professional racing drivers. Nissan offered him sponsorship, providing the car bearing his name as well as other perks including full time mentoring services and attendance at London's GT Academy gala gala event. Earning his stripes took just six months; an accomplishment unto itself! While his predecessors may never match them in real life, Mardenborough will certainly remain among his peers for years.