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9 months ago 14th Feb 08:15
He bought the script and shot the film in just 32 days. It premiered in the US just six months later on December 12, 2008.
Since then, it has made more than $113 million, making it Eastwood's highest-grossing box office film.
It reached number one in America and Australia, was nominated for several awards - including a Critics' Choice award and a Golden Globe Award - and was named one of the 10 Best Films of 2008 by the American Film Institute.
Critics have praised Eastwood's performance, likening his portrayal of the weathered, flawed "action hero" to his most famous character Dirty Harry.
Los Angeles Times critic Kenneth Turan said: "It is a film that is impossible to imagine without the actor in the title role. The notion of a 78-year-old action hero may sound like a contradiction in terms, but Eastwood brings it off, even if his toughness is as much verbal as physical.
"Even at 78, Eastwood can make 'Get off my lawn' sound as menacing as 'Make my day,' and when he says 'I can blow a hole in you face and sleep like a baby,' he sounds as if he means it."
But despite the hype, 'Gran Torino' did not receive any Academy Award nominations. Eastwood isn't upset - he insists he is no great talent, putting the film's success down to his vast industry experience. "I'm sure that somebody who has laid bricks for 50 years is pretty confident about their job. I'm no different from them," he explained. "I just do what I feel I should be doing. Whether you're nominated for something or not has never been a motivating force for me. It's just playing the roles.
"Once you finish a film, it doesn't belong to you anymore - it belongs to the audience to interpret it the way they feel like interpreting."
Eastwood has had a long and varied career - he has starred in more than 60 feature films, directed more movies than Steven Spielberg, served as the mayor of Carmel, California, from 1986 to 1988 and fathered seven children with five women.
After beginning his career in tacky spaghetti westerns like 'A Fist Full of Dollars', 'Rawhide' and 'Paint Your Wagon', he moved on the iconic detective series 'Dirty Harry' before directing a string of critically-acclaimed films including 'Mystic River' and 'Million Dollar Baby'.
His roles have altered dramatically, but Eastwood insists one thing has never changed: his passion for controversial characters.
"I enjoy being politically incorrect because I think political correctness is boring," he said. "In 'Gran Torino', you're showing a guy from a different generation. Show the way he talks.
"The country has come a long way in race relations, but the pendulum swings so far back. Everyone wants to be so... sensitive."
Regardless of how the film has been received, Eastwood is very proud of it - so proud he is considering retiring from acting again.
He said: "I don't know if this will be my last film role. How many roles are there for guys my age other than maybe some supporting roles or stuff?
"But I like being behind the camera so much that I wouldn't miss it if I didn't do it again. I probably wouldn't have done it again if this little fable hadn't come to the surface.
"Who knows? Never say never, but I'm not going to be actively out there on the freeway with a sign saying, 'Will act for a meal.' Maybe someday there'll be a nice 95-year-old part and I'll jump at the chance. Maybe not jump, but I'll wander over."
But even if this is his last acting role, Eastwood won't be stepping away from the film industry any time soon. "I won't be retiring unless someone thinks I should retire," he explained. "For now, I like working and I want to tell new stories. I want to find new hurdles over which I can jump."
Despite speculation, one of those projects is unlikely to be the much-anticipated sixth Dirty Harry movie. "I'm 78 years old, and you're pretty well drummed out of the police force by that age," Eastwood said. "There could be a scenario. I suppose if some mythical writer came out of nowhere and it was the greatest thing on the planet, I'd certainly have to think about it, but it's not like I've ever courted it.
"I feel like that was an era of my life, and I've gone on to other things. I'm not sure about being Dirty Harry again, but who knows?"
In fact, Eastwood came close to not appearing in any of the famous films. He insists he was only offered the film that made him a superstar after Frank Sinatra suffered an injury.
The actor explained: "They tried Frank Sinatra and Robert Mitchum and Steve McQueen. Then they finally ended up with Frank Sinatra. I was in post production on 'Play Misty for Me', and they called up and asked, 'Are you still interested in 'Dirty Harry'?'
"I said, 'What happened to Frank Sinatra?' And they said, 'Frank Sinatra's got some problem with his hand and he can't hold a gun.' That sounded like a pretty lame excuse, but it didn't matter to me. I said, 'I'll do it.'"
But before he signed the paperwork, Eastwood insisted the studio scrapped large portions of the script.
He revealed: "Since they had initially talked to me, there had been all these rewrites. I said, 'I'm only interested in the original script.'
"They'd changed everything. They had marine snipers coming on in the end, and I said, 'No. This is losing the point of the whole story, of the guy chasing the killer down. It's becoming an extravaganza that's losing its character.'
"So they said, 'OK, do what you want.' So we went and made it."
'Gran Torino' opens in British cinemas on Friday, February 20.
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