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Tetris
Tetris
	Promotional poster
Directed by	Jon S. Baird
Written by	Noah Pink
Produced by	Matthew Vaughn; Gillian Berrie; Claudia Schiffer; Len Blavatnik; Gregor Cameron;
Starring	Taron Egerton; Nikita Efremov; Sofia Lebedeva; Anthony Boyle; Toby Jones;
Cinematography	Alwin Küchler
Edited by	Martin Walsh; Colin Goudie; Ben Mills;
Music by	Lorne Balfe
Production; companies	Apple Studios; Marv Studios; AI Film; Unigram;
Distributed by	Apple TV+
Release dates	March 15, 2023 (SXSW); March 31, 2023 (United States);
Running time	118 minutes
Countries	United Kingdom; United States;
Languages	English; Russian; Japanese;
Budget	$80 million

Tetris is a 2023 biographical thriller film based on true events around the race to license and patent the video game Tetris from Russia in the late 1980s during the Cold War.^[3]^[4] It was directed by Jon S. Baird and written by Noah Pink. The film stars Taron Egerton, Nikita Efremov, Sofia Lebedeva, and Anthony Boyle. The plot follows Henk Rogers of Bullet-Proof Software, who becomes interested in a game during an electronics show. Desperate to obtain handheld console rights for Nintendo, he takes trips between Japan, the United States, and Russia to win legal battles over the game's ownership.

Development of Tetris began in July 2020. Filming began in Glasgow in December 2020, including Glasgow Prestwick Airport. In February 2021, filming took place in Aberdeen at locations including the University of Aberdeen's Zoology Building. Filming took place for 7 days in and around the former (RAF) military base at Balado in Perth & Kinross. Production wrapped in early March 2021.

Tetris premiered at the SXSW Film Festival on March 15, 2023, and was released on March 31, by Apple TV+. The film received generally positive reviews from critics.

Plot

At the 1988 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Henk Rogers of Bullet-Proof Software becomes enamored with the game Tetris, created by Soviet programmer Alexey Pajitnov of Soviet Union-owned ELORG. Rogers explains to bank manager Eddie that ELORG sold worldwide licensing rights to Robert Stein, who signed with media tycoon Robert Maxwell and his son, Mirrorsoft CEO Kevin Maxwell, allowing them to distribute Tetris in exchange for game royalties. Rogers buys the Tetris rights in Japan for PC, console, and arcade. Nintendo CEO Hiroshi Yamauchi accepts Rogers' proposed partnership to produce Tetris for the Famicom and arcade machines. Eddie gives Rogers a $3 million loan for Nintendo cartridges and arcade consoles; Rogers puts his house down as collateral.

Kevin calls Rogers, explaining Sega has already been promised the arcade rights. Rogers asks Yamauchi for his residuals in advance. Rogers is instead sent to the Nintendo of America headquarters in Seattle and shown the Game Boy due to be released with Super Mario Land. Rogers convinces President Minoru Arakawa and General Counsel Howard Lincoln to package it with Tetris instead, promising to obtain handheld rights. In London, the Maxwells tell Rogers that Stein retains all worldwide licensing rights. Stein accepts Rogers' $25,000 offer for worldwide handheld rights, but Nintendo tells Rogers that Stein has promised handheld rights to Atari for $100,000.

In Moscow, ELORG chairman Nikolai Belikov dubs Rogers' Famicom Tetris copy "illegal" because ELORG has only released PC rights to Stein. Rogers explains that Stein exploited the original contract's language which did not define a PC, allowing Stein to sell the rights to video game consoles. Belikov drafts a new contract that defines a PC,^[a] which Stein blindly signs.

To ensure potential Tetris profits, Valentin Trifonov of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union involves the KGB, who threatens Rogers, Pajitnov, and their families. At his apartment in Tokyo, Rogers receives a fax saying he's being dropped from the deal. When his wife Akemi reprimands him for missing his daughter Maya's concert, Rogers inadvertently causes Maya to cry. Belikov drafts a letter of intent to sell Mirrorsoft handheld rights on the condition $1 million is received within one week. Pajitnov faxes it to his now friend Rogers,^[b] showing that Mirrorsoft will only obtain Tetris rights if they pay by the deadline, which they cannot. Nintendo tells Rogers that Atari has released its Tetris, but Rogers tells them Atari doesn't have the rights, and urges Lincoln and Arakawa to Moscow.

The Maxwells visit the Soviet leader Mikhael Gorbachev to warn him against selling the game to capitalist interests. Gorbachev soon orders his guards to surveil Trifonov. ELORG accepts Nintendo's $5 million offer for console and handheld rights. Lincoln, Arakawa, and Rogers must leave Moscow with the paperwork to finalize the deal. Robert Maxwell agrees to give Trifonov 50% ownership of Tetris if he can intercept Rogers. After a car chase, the three board a plane, and Trifonov is arrested by Rogers's interpreter and KGB agent Sasha. Rogers returns to Tokyo, and Tetris is released in the West and Japan to huge success. Rogers watches Maya perform and shows Akemi a $5 million check to Bullet-Proof Software. Pajitnov watches the Singing Revolution on television when Rogers sends him a Game Boy and its Tetris. Rogers flies Pajitnov's family to the US. An epilogue reveals Rogers and Pajitnov have started The Tetris Company and remain good friends.

Cast

Taron Egerton as Henk Rogers
Nikita Yefremov as Alexey Pajitnov
Sofia Lebedeva as Sasha
Anthony Boyle as Kevin Maxwell
Ben Miles as Howard Lincoln
Ken Yamamura as Minoru Arakawa
Igor Grabuzov as Valentin Trifonov
Oleg Shtefanko as Nikolai Belikov
Ayane Nagabuchi as Akemi Rogers
Rick Yune as Eddie (credited as bank manager)
Roger Allam as Robert Maxwell
Toby Jones as Robert Stein
Togo Igawa as Hiroshi Yamauchi
Matthew Marsh as Mikhail Gorbachev
Ieva Andrejevaite as Nina Pajitnov
Kanon Narumi as Maya Rogers

Production

Development

In July 2020, it was reported that a biopic was being made about the making of Tetris, which would 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.^[5] Egerton confirmed this report in an August 2020 interview, explaining that the film would mirror a tone similar to The Social Network.^[6] In November 2020, Apple TV+ acquired the film.^[7]

Filming

Filming for the Tetris movie originally planned for Moscow was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, prompting the production to relocate to various locations in Scotland, including Edinburgh, Ayrshire, Glasgow, and Aberdeen. Director Jon S. Baird, a native of Aberdeen, described filming in his hometown as a special experience, highlighting the region’s untapped cinematic potential and the enthusiastic local reception. Producer Gillian Berrie noted the serendipitous connection between Moscow's architecture—partially influenced by Scottish designers—and the Scottish filming locations, which helped create a convincing stand-in for the Russian capital. Lead actor Taron Egerton remarked on Scotland's "abundance of greyness" and architectural similarities to Moscow, particularly in parts of Glasgow. The production was supported by £500,000 from Screen Scotland’s production growth fund.^[8]^[9] Filming began in Glasgow in December 2020, including Glasgow Prestwick Airport on the Ayrshire coast.^[10] 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,^[11] and Seamount Court^[12] which was used for several scenes. Filming took place for 7 days in and around the former (RAF) military base at Balado in Perth & Kinross; particularly internal scenes for a quasi-military backdrop. Production then returned to Glasgow for a few days, before wrapping in early March 2021.^[13]

In a 2023 interview, Alexey Pajitnov admitted that the film "didn't make an actual biography or an actual recreation of what actually happened", but was "close enough and very right emotionally and spiritually".^[14] The film had an estimated $80 million dollar budget.

Music

Release

The film premiered at the SXSW Film Festival on March 15, 2023.^[15] It premiered on Apple TV+ on March 31, 2023.^[16] According to a Samba TV research panel of 3.1 million smart television households who tuned in for at least one minute, Tetris drew in 88,000 viewers in its first two days.^[17]

Reception

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 82% of 190 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.7/10. 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."^[18] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 61 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.^[19]

Accolades

Tetris received nominations for Best Music and Best Action/Thriller TrailerByte for a Feature Film at the 2023 Golden Trailer Awards.^[20]^[21] Egerton was nominated for Best Actor at the 6th Hollywood Critics Association Midseason Film Awards.^[22]

Lawsuit

In August 2023, Dan Ackerman,^[23] the chief editor of Gizmodo, sued Apple for "illegally copying" his 2016 book The Tetris Effect: The Game That Hypnotized the World. Ackerman is asking the court for monetary damages of $4.8 million, which is 6% of the film's $80 million production budget.^[2]

Historical accuracy

In an interview prior to the film's release, Henk Rogers said that he and Alexey Pajitnov reviewed the script and made suggestions. However, Rogers noted, "It's a Hollywood script, a movie. It's not about history so a lot of [what's in the movie] never happened." Some events in the movie were true. For instance, Rogers notes that he convinced Nintendo to bundle Tetris with the Game Boy at launch in place of Super Mario Land. Rogers emphasized 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 Soviet Russia.^[24] For dramatic effect, the interpreter in the film was a KGB agent, which Rogers had already been aware of. In the end of the film, a car chase is depicted, although this did not happen when Rogers left the Soviet Union.^[25]

Notes

^ Rogers advised Belikov to define a PC as a device with a keyboard, monitor, and disk drive.
^ Rogers and Pajitnov had met at Pajitnov's apartment and later at a nightclub