Tetris is a truly classic video game. When news broke that the game was being made into a major motion picture, however, it caused more than a few head scratches. How, after all, could a game that’s as simple as fitting blocks into empty spaces be transformed into a full-length film? We all know how much of a train wreck the recent Battleship and Prince of Persia adaptations were. How could a big-screen adaptation of Tetris—a much simpler game—possibly be any better?
Well, as it turns out, Tetris’ big-screen debut will actually be more than just a single film. Instead, the upcoming video game adaptation is expected to be the first installment of a trilogy. Yes, there will be three Tetris movies. Three movies about blocks of varying shapes falling into corresponding gaps…
This news was broken by Empire, who spoke with the film’s producer Larry Kasanoff—also the producer of Mortal Combat—about the upcoming project.
In this interview, Kasanoff explained that the adaptation’s being stretched into three parts is due to the massive nature of the story that’s been created.
“The story we conceived is so big,” Kasanoff told Empire. “This isn’t us splitting the last one of our eight movies in two to wring blood out of the stone, it’s just a big story,” he continued, reassuring that this trilogy is not an effort to drag out his company’s current production deal.
So, just what can we expect from this “big” story?
“We want the story to be a surprise, but it’s a big science-fiction movie,” Kasanoff explained to Empire. “I came up with the idea as I was thinking about Tetris and the theme of creating order out of chaos.”
“I guarantee you it’s not what you think,” Kasanoff added. “We’re not going to have blocks with feet running around the movie.”
Despite all this news, the first installment of this trilogy remains in its nascent phases. Though we know that it will be a US-China co-production—probably shot in China and featuring Chinese and American stars—casting is still underway, and a release date has not yet been confirmed. Given this, parts two and three still reside way, way down the road.
For better or for worse, however, we now know that the wonderfully rudimentary video game Tetris will be expanded into three major blockbusters, in a project that has been billed from the get-go as “a very big, epic sci-fi movie.”
So, how do you think the films will turn out?
