Sony has tapped Jon and Erich Hoeber to pen "Gran Turismo" and to work with Joseph Kosinski in bringing the video game franchise to life on the big screen.
A "Gran Turismo" movie had been reportedly in the works since 2013 but it wasn't until March of this year that Kosinski got into talks with Sony to helm the project. Plot details are still under wraps but Kazunori Yamauchi, the series' lead designer, has hinted that the movie will revolve around a gamer-turned-racer. However, this was the case when Alex Tse was still attached as screenwriter.
Kosinski had been interested in making a racing movie for some time now, spending a couple of years to develop a film based on "Go Like Hell: Ford, Ferrari and Their Battle for Speed and Glory at Le Mans," which was written for Fox by A.J. Baime. Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt were being considered for the movie but the project ultimately fell off track, prompting Kosinski to move on. With "Gran Turismo," the director, who is known for his work in "Tron: Legacy" and "Oblivion," will finally have his shot at a related project.
It is not clear if the Hoebers will be developing a script from Tse's early outline but it has been reported that Kosinski will be developing a new one with Sony. If that's the case, then the Hoeber brothers will be given the freedom to create an entirely new script based on their own ideas.
When it comes to action movies, the Hoebers have made a name for themselves as a writing team after "RED" and "RED 2," both of which starred John Malkovich and Bruce Willis. In August, NBC announced that it is developing a television series based on the movie franchise.
Aside from writing the "RED" movies, the Hoebers also wrote for "Battleship" and "The Last Witch Hunter."
Sony's "Gran Turismo" is based on a hugely popular series of racing video games of the same name developed under Polyphony Digital. The game makes use of licensed reproductions of the flashiest real-world cars so a movie that gives off a "Fast and the Furious" vibe is highly likely. How the movie will set itself apart will depend on where the Hoebers and Kosinski want to take it.
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