The final piece has fallen into place for Apple to score TETRIS, an upcoming film that centers around the dicey origin of the classic puzzle-based video game. The film stars Taron Egerton (Rocketman, Kingsman film series) as Henk Rogers, a Dutch video game designer who first secured the rights to distribute Tetris on consoles, where it managed to become one of the most beloved puzzlers ever conceived. Henk was involved in a heated debate over the franchise’s copyright in the 1980s, which will be covered extensively in the upcoming film penned by Noah Pink. Jon S. Baird of Stan & Ollie fame will direct.
Supporting cast members are now being finalized, including roles for Russian software engineer Alexey Pajitnov, who first created the game, and businessmen Robert and Kevin Maxwell, a father/son duo who were involved in the international battle for the rights to Tetris. Filming for Tetris is expected to begin in December in Scotland.
Matthew Vaughn's Marv Films will produce and finance the project, with Leonard Blavatnik’s AI Film. Also on the production end of the spectrum are Gregor Cameron through his Unigram banner.
If you're interested in learning more about the complicated history of Tetris be sure to read the graphic novel Tetris: The Games People Play by Brian "Box" Brown. It's a truly engaging and informative read that I guarantee will make you appreciate Tetris more than you already do. Just click the link and it'll bring you directly to Amazon where you can snag your very own copy of the book.
