The Trailer for the 'Tetris' Movie Lines Up a Wild Cold War-Era Thriller About the Hit Game's Origins

"I still see falling blocks in my dreams."
Sarah Ward
February 17, 2023

Move over The Last of Us and The Super Mario Bros Movie — when it comes to turning video games into TV shows and films, there's another must-see dropping our way in 2023. This one focuses on a button-mashing favourite that also drips with tension and boasts a ridiculously catchy theme tune. That title? The one and only Tetris.

The king of all puzzle games, the best way to spend your time obsessing over tumbling blocks and an addiction for many, Tetris first arrived in 1984 courtesy of Soviet software engineer Alexey Pajitnov. How did it become the global phenomenon it is and always will be? That's the tale that the movie also called Tetris will tell when its line itself up on your streaming queue via Apple TV+ on Friday, March 31.

This film knows the truth about Tetris, too: that once you play it even for a few minutes, it haunts your brain and never departs. Early in the just-released trailer for the flick, star Taron Egerton (Black Bird) gives voice to something what every Tetris player has experienced. "I still see falling blocks in my dreams," he says as Henk Rogers, the man who secured the rights to the title for distribution on video game consoles like Nintendo's Game Boy.

The path from Pajitnov (played by Six Empty Seats' Nikita Efremov) creating the puzzle favourite and everyone everywhere playing it isn't straightforward or smooth. In fact, Tetris, the movie, looks set to unfurl as a wild Cold War-era thriller. When Rogers discovers the game, he makes the trip to the Soviet Union to meet Pajitnov — but the story from there involves far more than just four-piece blocks raining down on a screen.

Filmmaker Jon S. Baird (Stan & Ollie) directs, working with a script by Genius' Noah Pink, while Toby Jones (The English) also features among the cast.

To answer three crucial questions about the film flick from its trailer: yes, it features the requisite music; yes, it'll get that tune stuck in your head; and yes, you'll want to play Tetris ASAP.

Check out the trailer for Tetris below:

Tetris will be available to stream via Apple TV+ from Friday, March 31.

Published on February 17, 2023 by Sarah Ward
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