Apple’s Tetris movie lines up real history with a retro thriller

The Tetris movie that’s been in the works for almost a decade is actually happening, and Apple has finally unveiled an official trailer ahead of its SXSW premiere. This upcoming Apple Original Films “blockbuster” (sorry) is based on a true story, starring Taron Egerton as Henk Rogers, a Dutch entrepreneur who becomes so enamored with the titular game that he travels to the Soviet Union during the end of the Cold War in order secure its distribution rights.

There, he encounters the game’s inventor, Alexey Pajitnov (portrayed by A Good Man’s Nikita Efremov), and villainous KGB agents, all while navigating the increasing tensions between the Soviet government and the West. It’s certainly a different approach from previous films we’ve seen inspired by retro video games (I’m looking at you, Pixels), but I’m not sure anyone had “the Tetris movie is a Cold War spy thriller” on their 2023 bingo card.

Tetris is directed by Jon S. Baird (Stan & Ollie) and produced by Matthew Vaughn, Gillian Berrie, Claudia Vaughn, Len Blavatnik, and Gregor Cameron. Larry Kasanoff, who was previously expected to produce the project, said we could expect Tetris to span a trilogy of movies, but this no longer appears to be the case.

Tetris will be available to stream globally via Apple TV Plus on March 31st.