In July 2020, it was reported that a biopic was being made about the making of Tetris, which will delve into the legal battles that took place during the Cold War over ownership of the game, with Jon S. Baird directing and Taron Egerton cast to portray the game publisher Henk Rogers.[2] Egerton confirmed this report in an August 2020 interview, explaining that the film would mirror a tone similar to The Social Network.[3] In November 2020, Apple TV+ acquired the film.[4]
Filming began in Glasgow in December 2020, including Glasgow Prestwick Airport on the Ayrshire coast.[5] In February 2021, filming took place in Aberdeen at locations including the University of Aberdeen's Zoology Building, which was used as the headquarters of Soviet firm Elorg,[6] and Seamount Court[7] which was used for several scenes. Production then returned to Glasgow for a few days, before wrapping in early March 2021.[8][9] Reshoots took place in 2022, and the film's release was planned for later in the year.[10]
Release
The film premiered at the SXSW Film Festival on March 15, 2023.[11] It will premiere on Apple TV+ on March 31, 2023.[12]
Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 81% of 37 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.5/10. The website's consensus reads, "While it's nowhere near as addictive or fast-paced as the game, Tetris offers a fun, fizzy account of the story behind an 8-bit classic."[13]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 59 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[14]
Historical accuracy
In an interview prior to the film's release, Henk Rogers said that both he and Alexy Pajitnov reviewed the script and made suggestions.[15] However, Rogers noted, "It's a Hollywood script; it's a movie. It's not about history, so a lot of [what's in the movie] never happened." He did emphasize that the producers wanted to "capture the darkness and the brooding" that he felt during his time trying to get the rights to Tetris in then-Soviet Russia. He continued, "They tried their best to accept our changes when they had to do with authenticity. But when it started getting into [creative flourishes like] the car chase and all that, it was like, 'OK, now it’s all them.' We couldn't change anything."
