When we tell you there’s a movie about Tetris on the way, what do you think of? No, this is not a Pixels-style, literal blocks falling from the sky adaptation of the game, but a dramatisation of the quest to secure the rights to the game, headed up by Black Bird and Rocketman star Taron Egerton. He plays Henk Rogers, a Dutch entrepreneur who is particularly enthralled by Tetris and keen to snap up the international distribution rights – but comes up against resistance from the Soviet authorities, KGB agents and the game’s inventor, Alex Pajitnov (Nikita Yefremov). The film is being released by Apple TV+, and the first trailer just dropped. Have a watch below.
The Soviets aren’t the only people standing in Henk’s way, with British media tycoon Robert Maxwell (Roger Allam) and bratty son Kevin (Anthony Boyle), as well as big Nintendo boss Hiroshi Yamauchi (Togo Igawa) also keen to stake a claim on what Rogers describes as ‘poetry, art and math all working in perfect synchronicity’. It’s all based on the true story of the game’s rise to iconic status, with these deals all going down at an especially tense time between Eastern and Western governments and businesses. Though Tetris itself is exceptionally simple, the fight for its rights definitely wasn’t.
Block out your calendars now – Tetris is streaming on Apple TV+ from 31 March. You can read our on-set report from the Tetris movie in the new issue of Empire – on newsstands now, or become a digital member to read the issue in full instantly online.