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‘Stranger Things’ Star’s Criminally Overlooked ‘F1’ Rival Officially Hits HBO Max Next Week

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The Fast and Furious franchise has proven that a good racing movie can provide plenty of great rewatch value. Features like Christian Bale’s Ford vs. Ferrari, Jason Statham‘s Death Race, Asif Kapadia’s Senna, Chris Hemsworth’s Rush, Tom Cruise’s Days of Thunder, and many more are a testament to the fact that the audience is always in for a ride when the characters are compelling, and the environment is immersive.

Last year, Brad Pitt and director Joseph Kosinski’s F1 saw success executing the same tropes while providing a highly immersive experience thanks to IMAX screens and Hans Zimmer‘s compelling soundtrack. Not only did the sports drama become a commercial success by earning $634 million worldwide, but it also received critical acclaim, earning nominations and winning multiple awards at the Oscars, the Critics’ Choice Awards, and the British Academy Film Awards.

But before F1 created a wave, an underrated racing movie moved the needle with its cinematography and story. Neill Blomkamp’s 2023 biographical sports epic and loose video game adaptation, Gran Turismo, seamlessly blended an underdog story with a high-octane racing dream. Starring Archie Madekwe as real-life racer Jann Mardenborough, who successfully transitioned from playing Gran Turismo to racing on track. Playing Jann’s cynical, tough-love trainer is Stranger Things icon and MCU star David Harbour.

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Based on real-life events, we follow a working-class teenager, Jann, who spends his days mastering the Gran Turismo driving simulator. Things take a turn when he enters the GT Academy, a real-world marketing contest created by Nissan and PlayStation to turn the world’s best virtual gamers into actual, track-certified professional race car drivers.



















































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Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz
Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive?
The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars

Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you’d actually make it out of alive.

💊The Matrix

🔥Mad Max

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🌧️Blade Runner

🏜️Dune

🚀Star Wars

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01

You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do?
The first instinct is often the truest one.





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02

In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely?
What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.





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03

What kind of threat keeps you up at night?
Fear is useful data — if you’re honest about what you’re actually afraid of.





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04

How do you deal with authority you don’t trust?
Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.





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05

Which environment could you actually endure long-term?
Survival isn’t just tactical — it’s physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.





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06

Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart?
The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.





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07

Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all?
Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they’re actually made of.





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08

What would actually make survival worth it?
Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.





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Your Fate Has Been Calculated
You’d Survive In…

Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.

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The Resistance, Zion

The Matrix
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You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things.

  • You’re drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
  • You’d find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines’ worst nightmare.
  • You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
  • The Matrix built an airtight prison. You’d be the one probing the walls for the door.


The Wasteland

Mad Max
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The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you.

  • You don’t need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
  • You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you’re good at all three.
  • You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
  • In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.


Los Angeles, 2049

Blade Runner
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You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.

  • You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
  • In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
  • You’re not a hero. But you’re not lost, either.
  • In Blade Runner’s world, that distinction is everything.


Arrakis

Dune
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Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.

  • Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they’re survival tools.
  • You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
  • Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You’d learn its logic and earn its respect.
  • In time, you wouldn’t just survive Arrakis — you’d begin to reshape it.


A Galaxy Far, Far Away

Star Wars
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The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.

  • You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
  • You’d gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire’s grip can be broken.
  • You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn’t something you’re capable of.
  • In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.

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Gran Turismo Has Brilliant Visuals

Though underrated, the feature is loved for its compelling performances by Madekwe, Harbour, and Orlando Bloom as Danny, an idealistic, fast-talking Nissan Motorsports marketing executive who conceptualizes the GT Academy. Blomkamp brought a highly kinetic, visceral energy to the racing sequences by employing video game aesthetics, like vehicle customization graphics, and specific camera angles over real-life race tracks. The visuals, combined with high-octane races and seamless execution, make the movie a great watch and very easy to understand even for casual onlookers. It greatly divided its audiences on Rotten Tomatoes: critics gave it a 65% rating, whereas audiences gave it a near-perfect 98% rating. Nonetheless, the feature was a moderate commercial success, earning $122 million on a modest $60 million budget. For audiences who’d like to check out the film for the first time or revisit it, the time is right as Gran Turismo is coming to HBO Max on June 1.

Stay tuned to Collider for more such updates.


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Release Date

August 25, 2023

Runtime
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135 minutes

Writers

Jason Hall, Zach Baylin

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Producers

Asad Qizilbash, Carter Swan, Dana Brunetti, Doug Belgrad

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