Movie Based Off Tetris to start filming in 2017

[LuciCypher]

Yes, that movie based on the classic puzzle game Tetris is really happening.

A live-action science fiction movie based on the block-stacking puzzler will be co-produced by Threshold Entertainment Group and China’s Seven Star Works, the companies revealed in a joint statement Tuesday. The project, carrying a budget of $80 million, starts shooting in China in 2017.

The Tetris film is the first movie in a joint venture between the two companies to produce and finance film under Threshold Global Studios. Threshold Entertainment Group is run by veteran film producer Larry Kasanoff, who worked on another series of notable video game adaptations based on Mortal Kombat.

“Tetris, one of the most recognized video game franchises of all time, is a perfect first project for this strategy,” said Kasanoff in a statement.

Video games are a hot property of late in Hollywood. Several films are already launching this year, based on franchises including Angry Birds, World of Warcraft and Assassin’s Creed.

However, Tetris presents a unique challenge, being a puzzle game where players just rotate blocks to fit them in clean lines and clear them from a level.

"One of the reasons Tetris is so successful is because it fulfills an innate desire we all have to create order out of chaos in the world around us," said Kasanoff in an email. "That theme -- applied with some imagination globally and possibly universally – is a great one for a series of sci-fi movies. I promise you this movie is not what you think, but once you see it, you will understand why Tetris."

The team has worked with The Tetris Company for more than a year on the film project. Although details of the plot have yet to be revealed, the “epic sci-fi thriller” has a story in place, and will be co-produced by Kasanoff and Bruno Wu, CEO of Chinese media company Sun Seven Stars Media Group.

“Today there are so many great sources on which to build a movie blockbuster and video gaming is certainly an amazing category with its huge international following,” said Wu.

Kasanoff first revealed the project in 2014 in a report to The Wall Street Journal.

www.usatoday.com/story/tech/gaming/2016/05/17/movie-based-tetris-starts-shooting-2017/84479736/

[Mighty Attack Tribble]

I don't know about anybody else, but when I think of Tetris I automatically think "epic sci-fi thriller."

[Deleted]

I'd rather watch a movie set in the future where people find an old Tetris game and think its the key to unlocking some great mystery.

[FinalGwen]

Sci fi thriller? Nah, it obviously needs to be a politically based Cold War musical, with this as the central motif.

[Rolent Tex]

If there was ever a movie that needed a FAN written script...its Tetris.

[Father Dougal McGuire]

I have a feeling the book will be better.

[Deleted]

May 17, 2016 19:48:56 GMT -5 Father Dougal McGuire said:

I have a feeling the book will be better.

I'd love to see a review of this movie with someone angrily waving the Tetris game manual to and fro while shouting about it "NOT BEING FAITHFUL TO THE SOURCE MATERIAL!!!"

[Push R Truth]

Can't wait until the Tetris Movie Game comes out!

[wisdomwizard]

Could have sworn we already had a thread for this a while ago, but oh well.



Like anything else, I'll watch if they pick the right screenwriter/director for this.

[mysterydriver]

A group of people stuck in an elevator. The small confined place. Trapped. Suddenly, blocks appear...different shapes. Sizes.

They start to fill the elevator, a realization quickly sweeping that if they continue... the people stuck will be crushed from lack of space. One of the younger people takes a deep breath and reaches out carefully...carefully...and touches one. He isn't hurt. It moves. He guides it, explaining they have to conserve space until help arrives. It's their only hope...he makes a full line AND IT DISAPPEARS.

The rest of the movie is them battling the ever changing shapes, conserving space, while people try and rescue the elevator.

And the twist?

That ridiculous stair looking Tetris block was the Devil the entire time.

[Bub (BLM)]

"One of the reasons Tetris is so successful is because it fulfills an innate desire we all have to create order out of chaos in the world around us,"

Holy shit, they're really overthinking Tetris.

[Apricots And A Pear Tree]

The new Ghostbusters does not seem like such a bad idea now, does it?

[Deleted]

All I know is that song better loop from credits to credits.

[BigBadZ]

Threshold Entertainment Group is run by veteran film producer Larry Kasanoff, who worked on another series of notable video game adaptations based on Mortal Kombat.

[amazingoopah]

I think those Chinese investors would be better off building a a ghost city in the middle of nowhere rather than investing in this dreck.

[Alexander The So-so]

I have no idea what to even say to this.

It's a puzzle game for crying out loud! It's not like Mario or Assassin's Creed or Resident Evil or any other game which actually has a semblance of a plot: Tetris is a fundamentally interactive, player-based experience with no characters or plot points.

For heaven's sake, to expand beyond video games and look at movies based on games in general: even Clue made a degree of sense, since that board game at least lent itself to a classic murder mystery plot. Making a Tetris movie would be like making "Chinese Checkers: The Movie."

[Mighty Attack Tribble]

May 17, 2016 21:39:24 GMT -5 Alexander The So-so said:

I have no idea what to even say to this.

It's a puzzle game for crying out loud! It's not like Mario or Assassin's Creed or Resident Evil or any other game which actually has a semblance of a plot: Tetris is a fundamentally interactive, player-based experience with no characters or plot points.

For heaven's sake, to expand beyond video games and look at movies based on games in general: even Clue made a degree of sense, since that board game at least lent itself to a classic murder mystery plot. Making a Tetris movie would be like making "Chinese Checkers: The Movie."

It wouldn't be the first time:



Hell, might as well save themselves some money and just swap out the alien ships for Tetris blocks and re-release it.

[Deleted]

May 17, 2016 20:46:33 GMT -5 Apricots And A Pear Tree said:

The new Ghostbusters does not seem like such a bad idea now, does it?

No, it's still a bad idea. This is just an additional bad idea.

[Alice Syndrome]

...why?

[Phil Parent]

You know, a story of how Tetris was created in the USSR and how people lawyered over the rights to it and how Pajitnov never saw a dime for his creation until 12 years after the fact might actually be a decent biopic.

This, not so much. I don't see how you can make a plot out of falling blocks, much less a movie.