In short: Sony, during its CES 2023 press conference, shared a brief overview of its upcoming film based on the Gran Turismo franchise and announced a concept car called Afeela, which it is creating in collaboration with Honda.
Gran Turismo is based on the true story of a Gran Turismo player named Ian Mardenborough, who won a series of gaming competitions organized by Sony Computer Entertainment and Nissan to become a professional racing driver.
The film is directed by Neil Blomkamp, starring David Harbour, Orlando Bloom and Darren Barnett. It also features Emilia Hartford, a well-known content creator in the automotive world with an impressive audience on social media. Her latest project was to create the world’s first Corvette Z06 2023 with dual turbocharging.
Blomkamp spoke about using the Sony Venice 2 camera with removable Rialto sensors inside Le Mans prototype cars. These cars have very small cabins that do not fit a standard IMAX camera, but they were able to take the necessary pictures using Sony technology. The cameras also helped the production team capture the unique look of the game, such as a third-person view from behind the cars.
The teaser really looks and feels like a CGI scene taken directly from the series. If you’re lucky, this could be one of the best adaptations of the game to the movie. The only other racing—based game I can remember is Need for Speed, which wasn’t that hot. Expect it to hit theaters worldwide on August 11.
In related news, Sony also unveiled the electric car brand it is creating with Honda. It’s called Afeela, and the prototype fits very well into this category. It looks very much like a cross between a Lucid Air and a Porsche. We still don’t know much about the first Sony and Honda car, but Sony has shared that it will be equipped with a total of 45 sensors and cameras.
Sony said it expects to receive pre-orders in the first half of 2025 and will deliver the first batches to customers in North America in the spring of 2026.
