Watch Taron Egerton star in new trailer for ‘Tetris’
On the face of it, a film based on one of the world’s most iconic puzzle video games seems like a rather tenuous stretch, even by today’s popular cinematic standards. However, the upcoming Tetris film actually concerns the battle for intellectual property rights amid the tensions of the Cold War rather than being a film about the game, as its mere title suggests.
Scottish director Jon S. Baird, whose last feature-length film was 2018’s Stan & Ollie, is on directing duty, while Taron Egerton will play the lead role of Henk Rogers (a Dutch businessman who sees the potential in the developing game), alongside the likes of Toby Jones, Nikita Yefremov and Roger Allam, alongside several other star players.
Discussing how his prior experience and knowledge made him a good match for taking the reigns on the film, Baird told Entertainment Weekly, “I’m a politics graduate, and I was particularly interested in the Cold War period. I knew a lot about that, and that thriller aspect drew me into this story. A lot of the work that I’ve done has been based on true stories.”
He continued, expressing his admiration for the unique screenplay, “Automatically [the Cold War backdrop] gives you that thriller aspect because it’s communism vs. capitalism, East vs. West, this clash of cultures and clash of ideas while this huge bloc of countries was disintegrating. People were stealing natural resources, and the whole thing was falling apart. It lends itself to this high-stakes, high-paced, high-impact sort of thriller, which just so happens to be about the world’s most famous computer game.”
Meanwhile, Taron Egerton noted how Tetris features a brilliant cast, sure to make the final film one to remember. He said, “It’s a great thriller, and everyone’s fantastic. It’s a great supporting cast. There are some real top-tier British stalwarts like Roger Allam. He’s amazing, and they did an incredible job of making him look like Robert Maxwell. Then there’s a host of really brilliant Russian actors as well. So it’s a really strong cast, and it came together really well.”
Check out the trailer for Tetris below.
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