The first trailer for the Tetris movie looks like good, wild fun

1 year ago 115

Taron Egerton sports a strong looking moustache.

The first trailer for the Tetris movie is here, providing a look at the genuinely wild story behind the origin of Tetris.

When I first heard there was going to be a Tetris movie I thought, "video game adaptations have gone too far." Obviously turning the game into a film just isn't really possible, but turning the story behind how Tetris became the sensation it went on to be is. That's exactly what Tetris, the Apple TV+ exclusive film is all about, following the events that unfolded between Henk Rogers, the man that "risked his life to outsmart the KGB and turn Tetris into a worldwide sensation," and Alexey Pajitnov, Tetris' creator.

The film, due out March 31, stars Kingsman's Taron Egerton as Rogers, and Nikita Efremov as Pajitnov. Set in 1988, it shows Rogers discovering Tetris, and in turn him supposedly risking his life travelling to the Soviet Union (as it was known at the time). Honestly, I didn't expect a film like this to look as good as it does. There's a justified amount of reverence for the game, but it's clearly not taking itself entirely seriously.

Tetris (the film) tracks Rogers on his journey to the Soviet Union in his quest to get the rights for Tetris, quite the thing to do when the transcontinental country wasn't on friendly terms with the US. Still, we all know that Tetris did end up on the Game Boy, so it will be fun to find out how.

One of the more surprising aspects of Tetris' history is that intellectual property didn't exist in the Soviet Union, so publishing the game wasn't an easy task. It did receive a PC release prior to its release on the Game Boy, but it's obviously the latter that many people look back on with a sense of nostalgia.

You can watch Tetris when it arrives on Apple TV+ March 31.

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