Orlando Bloom at Cannes for Gran Turismo story of gamer-turned-racer

CANNES — Actor Orlando Bloom and former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell-Horner were at the Cannes Film Festival on Friday to promote Gran Turismo, based on a true story about a video game player who used his skills to become a professional racing driver.

Grand Turismo follows Jann Mardenborough, a teenager from Wales who in 2011 beat other participants of a competition for players of the PlayStation racing simulation for the chance to compete in a real-life event.

The film is due to be released in theatres this August.

Director Neill Blomkamp, behind films such as Chappie and District 9, said Mardenborough was involved in writing the script as well as was on set during the filming.

Archie Madekwe, who was in the 2019 folk horror Midsommar, plays Mardenborough, who now races in Japan's Super GT series, in the film distributed by Sony Pictures.

For the role, Madekwe spent a lot of time behind the wheel: "I drove a lot. I drove a lot more than I knew I was going to be driving. I kind of can't really believe that I did it."

Halliwell-Horner plays Jann's mother, while Bloom is a motorsport marketing executive.

Bloom said on Friday that the film showed anyone can dream big. "You have this very honest, real and true-to-life story, which is, I think, something everyone can relate to," he said.

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