Tetris movie is in the works
In a move that seems like a very late April fools’ joke, Threshold Entertainment has announced that is has acquired the rights to create a movie based on Tetris. The production company today revealed details of a partnership with The Tetris Company that will aim to release Tetris: The Film in the not too distant future.
If you are thinking that Tetris seems like an incredibly odd choice for a film, you are not alone. Although the game is incredibly successful, and has been released on almost every platform imaginable, it does not feature a plot of any kind and has no characters other than the blocks that the player controls. A movie adaptation therefore doesn’t seem to make too much sense, especially considering that Threshold Entertainment are describing it as “an epic sci-fi movie”.
In the press release announcing the film, Managing Director of The Tetris Company Henk Rogers said: “In this new universe as you’ll soon find out, there’s much more to Tetris than simply clearing lines.”
“Everyone knows that Tetris is one of the best known, most beloved brands in the world,” said Larry Kasanoff, the Chairman of the production company. “What everyone doesn’t know yet is this epic sci‐fi story that we’re going to tell. That’s what’s really exciting.”
Threshold are no strangers to adapting video games into films. They were behind the 1995 Mortal Kombat movie based on the hit fighting series by Midway Games, which is currently the fourth highest grossing film based on a game. Despite their previous success however, it is important remember that most video game adaptations have been spectacular failures. The likes of Doom, Street Fighter, Silent Hill, Max Payne and Super Mario Bros. were all commercial and critical flops.
That hasn’t stopped publishers wanting to move in the film industry though, both Ubisoft and Activision are currently working on films based on their hit franchises such as Call of Duty, Splinter Cell, Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry.