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Tetris To Be Made Into a Live Action Film

SchrodingerZ writes: Threshold Entertainment has announced that it will be producing a live action film based on the Russian stacking game Tetris. Designed in 1984 by Alexey Pajitnov, Tetris has sold over 35 million copies worldwide. Threshold CEO Larry Kasanoff promises "a very big, epic sci-fi movie," explaining, "this isn't a movie with a bunch of lines running around the page. We're not giving feet to the geometric shapes." Kasanoff is known for his work with the video game films Mortal Kombat, and Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, collectively grossing $105 million in revenue. The studio is planning "a story behind Tetris which makes it a much more imaginative thing," though no directors nor cast have been connected to the film. Threshold Entertainment teased the idea, saying "What you [will] see in Tetris is the teeny tip of an iceberg that has intergalactic significance."

137 comments

  1. April Fools? by Aereus · · Score: 4, Funny

    Are we sure it's October 1st and not April 1st?

    1. Re:April Fools? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      In the U.S. maybe, but in Russia, on the other side of the world, it is April 1st.

    2. Re:April Fools? by JavaBear · · Score: 1

      I was wondering the same thing. Someone got their calendar seriously wrong.

    3. Re:April Fools? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Today is also the one-year anniversary of Slashdot Beta! Happy October Fools Day!

    4. Re:April Fools? by Vitriol+Angst · · Score: 1

      I think it's going to be more challenging for writers to create a scenario than even Battleship!

      Is the hero going to use a laser beam, telepathy, or Jeff Goldbloom's laptop to steer geometric alien enemies into a well packed space in order to disable their ships? Or do they have a weakness to water? Or is our super weapon of the future large geometric shapes and we have to contract a super bright Chinese exchange student to quickly configure them in order to save the world, while John Glenn walks slowly in the background to stirring music?

      The EASY part will be the battle scenes -- just hire the same FX group that did Enders game.

      The HARD part is creating a movie where the plot is; "use large geometric shapes and pack them well!" If it's a comedy, I'd enlist people who stack boxes for a living. Maybe a giant fork lift with laser beams.

      --
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    5. Re:April Fools? by DarkOx · · Score: 1

      That was my initial reaction but then Tetris' total lack of plot and cannon also gives the writers near total freedom.

      I mean hell you could make a movie about a struggling deliver service improving their efficiency through better packing efficiency and call it Tetris.

      --
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    6. Re:April Fools? by denis-The-menace · · Score: 1

      And the parodies of the film will be called ... UPS.

      The scene will involve a UPS driver putting boxes in the truck in a neat manner all to the tune of the Russian classic "The Peddlers" (aka "ÐsоÑобÐÐнÐÐÐ")

      --
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    7. Re:April Fools? by ArcadeMan · · Score: 1

      I once received something delivered by UPS and I think the scene prior to the delivery looked more like the beginning of Ace Ventura.

    8. Re:April Fools? by idontgno · · Score: 1

      Right. It's April 1st Old Style*.

      They recoilled away from Soviet Communism so hard they overshot back into Tsarist Imperial Russia.

      *No, not really. Don't be whoosed by a feeble calendar joke. The bit about 21st Century Tsarist Russia, though, that was serious.

      --
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    9. Re:April Fools? by TangoMargarine · · Score: 1

      *canon

      Although technically Tetris doesn't have cannons, either.

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    10. Re:April Fools? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I once received a tube of rolled-up drawings (backgrounds from the architect for us to draw the mechanical systems, back before CAD) delivered by UPS and all the drawings were creased and the tube they came in had tire tracks on it. Switched to the more expensive FedX after that.

    11. Re:April Fools? by Dogtanian · · Score: 1

      Are we sure it's October 1st and not April 1st?

      When I first saw this on the BBC news site my first thought was that this was beyond parody.

      Charlie Brooker apparently stopped doing TV Go Home (a bizarre send-up of British TV listings) when reality TV ideas started coming up with ideas that were becoming as strange as his joke versions (e.g. "Touch the Truck in which contestants must continually touch a truck for 24 hours in order to win the truck as a prize").

      This is the movie version of that- it already sounds like something that would have belonged in a comedy parody in recent years. You could try sending it up or taking the p***, but why bother?

      The particularly silly bit in the BBC report is the comment, "In this new universe, as you'll soon find out, there's much more to Tetris than simply clearing lines." Er, no, there isn't. That's why you're going to have to make up virtually everything about it.

      When the "Space Invaders" film was mooted, I (along with everyone else) thought it was ludicrous, since the original game was little more than "you are shooting waves of aliens [which we understand are "invading" from "space" going by the two-word "plot" written on the arcade cabinet]". It was likely to be little more than transparent attempt to graft a nostalgia-invoking brand on a generic sci-fi movie, which- going by recent Hollywood films- was unlikely to have much more plot than the original game.

      But "Tetris: The Movie" takes the biscuit. I wasn't engaging in hyperbole when I said it was beyond parody- I don't think there's anything you can say about this sort of thing that makes it sound more ludicrous than simply restating the idea itself.

      Enough of that. Here's a little musical relief.

      --
      "Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
    12. Re:April Fools? by Tuidjy · · Score: 1

      > Enough of that. Here's a little musical relief.

      I see your Doctor Spin and raise you Pig With The Face Of A Boy.

      If the movie is half as good as the video in my link, I'll go see it.

      --
      No good deed goes unpunished...
    13. Re:April Fools? by ultranova · · Score: 1

      The HARD part is creating a movie where the plot is; "use large geometric shapes and pack them well!"

      That's not the plot, that's the theme. The plot will be "good guys kill bad guys". The only real question is whether "Tetris" will turn up as a heroic or villainous doomsday weapon.

      --

      Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.

    14. Re:April Fools? by Provocateur · · Score: 1

      i was ready to respond but my head hit the brakes and did a full reverse when it read Goldbloom Seriously? I think we deserve our /. editors

      --
      WARNING: Smartphones have side effects--most of them undocumented.
    15. Re:April Fools? by TranquilVoid · · Score: 1

      That was my initial reaction but then Tetris' total lack of plot

      I'm tipping Michael Bay to direct.

    16. Re:April Fools? by flappinbooger · · Score: 1

      Uhhh, in Soviet Russia October fools you?

      --
      Flappinbooger isn't my real name
  2. The Last Blockfighter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Greetings, Blockfighter. You have been recruited by the Star League to defend the Frontier against Xur and the Ko-dan Armada.

    1. Re: The Last Blockfighter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Im old enough to actually know this reference.... Made my day, thanks!

    2. Re: The Last Blockfighter by ArcadeMan · · Score: 1

      I'm also old enough to get the reference! Can I get a lone star?

    3. Re: The Last Blockfighter by TangoMargarine · · Score: 1

      Only one man would dare to give me the raspberry jam.

      --
      Unity? Screw that: XFCE. Slashdot Beta? Screw that: SoylentNews. Australis? Screw that: Pale Moon. UX developers DIAF
    4. Re: The Last Blockfighter by nevermore94 · · Score: 1

      I am also old enough, but don't you mean a Gunstar?

      --
      Nevermore.
    5. Re: The Last Blockfighter by Provocateur · · Score: 1

      he's older than you; his memory's waning

      --
      WARNING: Smartphones have side effects--most of them undocumented.
    6. Re:The Last Blockfighter by roman_mir · · Score: 2

      Tetris, the last BLOCKBUSTER.

  3. Why? by rebelwarlock · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I don't... is there really nothing better that could be turned into a film? A good book, or perhaps even an original script? This seems like one of those films that should only be created when literally every other possible idea has already been done a few dozen times.

    1. Re:Why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or maybe, I don't know, a video game that already has a plot and setting? Legend of Zelda, say, or Metroid? Or Castlevania? Or just about any other non-puzzle game?

    2. Re:Why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Considering there's no story behind Tetris, it will be a completely original script. I guess it could be like Tron or Wargames where a videogame was an element of the plot.

    3. Re:Why? by zwei2stein · · Score: 1

      Why not?

      See this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

      It is based on tetris, but it is actually pretty good history illustration.

      --
      -- Technology for the sake of technology is as pathetic as eschewing technology because it's technology.
    4. Re:Why? by nine-times · · Score: 2

      Well I think what's most likely happening is, they're taking some random crappy scifi movie and shoe-horning some Tetris concept into it. Why? Because some jackasses will watch it just to see "the Tetris movie". It's the "Snakes on a Plane" brand of marketing. If you can't market your movie as being a good movie, market it as being a funny ironic bizarre movie.

    5. Re:Why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      When I first heard about this, I was expecting a movie about a kid training to win the national tetris championships or something... you know, like The Wizard 2

    6. Re:Why? by m.alessandrini · · Score: 1

      Indeed, I expect to see it featured on cracked.com soon.

    7. Re:Why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A better comparison would be the god-awful Catwoman, which was literally just some random movie slightly modified to be associated with the iconic DC villain

      Same with Day-Z, same with iRobot, same with so many other films

      1. Purchase hot property NAME
      2. Take random treatment out of your war chest
      3. ???
      4. Bomb at the box office

      (Stay employed? I really don't know)

    8. Re:Why? by NotDrWho · · Score: 1

      "Fuck the script! We'll worry about that insignificant detail after the FX are in place! We need to focus on the EXPLOSIONS!" -Michael Bay

      --
      SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
    9. Re:Why? by doconnor · · Score: 1

      An even better example is the Super Mario Bros. movie.

    10. Re:Why? by Tokah · · Score: 1

      Thank you, that was brilliant! I don't think an epic sci-fi move based on Tetris could beat that Youtube video.

    11. Re:Why? by jeffmeden · · Score: 2

      Why not?

      See this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

      It is based on tetris, but it is actually pretty good history illustration.

      Holy hell...

      "what's the point of it all/ when you're building a wall/ and in front of your eyes/ it disappears?"
      "pointless work for pointless pay/ this is one game I won't play"

      I just realized how Tetris is really just an analog for communism... Childhood Ruined.

    12. Re:Why? by Immerman · · Score: 1

      That's hilarious! Somehow I don't see it scaling to feature length though.

      --
      --- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
    13. Re:Why? by Jason+Levine · · Score: 1

      Legend of Zelda - if done right - might actually make a pretty good movie. Sort of a mini-Lord Of The Rings. You could take the plot of Link To The Past (and perhaps a few other Zelda games), adapt it a bit, and wind up with a very nice movie. If you do it right, you could even get a Zelda Trilogy out of it.

      I'd much rather see another Super Mario Brothers movie (actually based off of the video games instead of whatever that 80's film was) than Tetris: The Movie.

      --
      My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
    14. Re:Why? by Half-pint+HAL · · Score: 1
      --
      Got them moderator blues I blieve I walk out the do', With these mod-points I been gettin', I 'most never post no mo'
    15. Re:Why? by kurzweilfreak · · Score: 1

      The Mechwarrior/Battletech universe has a very rich universe, cast of characters and series of books already written that would make an awesome series of movies. Just the original Blood of Kerensky trilogy introducing the Clans original invasion of the Inner Sphere would make a sweet trilogy. With today's CGI making pretty incredible footage for the games' pre-mission cut scenes, a big screen adaptation would be pretty visually stunning, IMO. Why no one in Hollywood has jumped on this yet boggles my mind.

      --

      kurzweil_freak

      5th Kyu Genbukan Ninpo/KJJR student

      Be the darkness that allows the light to shine.

    16. Re:Why? by Dogtanian · · Score: 2

      It's the "Snakes on a Plane" brand of marketing. If you can't market your movie as being a good movie, market it as being a funny ironic bizarre movie.

      To be fair, I don't think "Snakes on a Plane" was ever quite that cynically-minded in the first place; remember that, back when it happened, the "self-consciously cheesy B-style-movie" thing wasn't such a cliche, and they apparently changed the title to "Pacific Flight 121" at one point before Samuel L Jackson supposedly made them change it back. (I wonder if "Snakes on a Plane" was only originally intended to be a working title reflecting a high concept movie).

      Yes, they did reshoot and alter parts of the film in response to its pre-release Internet fame, but I don't think it started out as being cynical. It's only when soulless Hollywood t***s try ripping off and repeating the phenomenon that it leaves a nasty taste in the mouth.

      Of course, the irony with "Snakes on a Plane" is that despite becoming a massively-popular Internet meme, this didn't translate into box-office success. Despite heightened expectations of its performance, the film itself turned out to be a relative flop, so go figure.

      --
      "Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
    17. Re:Why? by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      Fallout must come first before the crappy console games.

  4. Could be Good by glennrrr · · Score: 1

    Is it an artsy movie about life in a totalitarian state. Something like Metropolis?

    1. Re:Could be Good by DigiShaman · · Score: 1

      Only through Tetris can you know your true place in life.

      In Soviet Russia, your place knows you!

      --
      Life is not for the lazy.
    2. Re:Could be Good by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 1

      Something like Metropolis?

      Metropolis was all about the imagery. No matter how good this Tetris movie is or is not, it'll all be about the fifteen minutes before - filling the theatre seats is going to be great fun!

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
  5. Raiders of the Lost Arcade by OzPeter · · Score: 2

    That was what came to mind when I saw the headline .. Invaders .. possibly from space!

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    1. Re:Raiders of the Lost Arcade by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      Speaking of Space Invaders.. http://www.shiftylook.com/comi...

    2. Re:Raiders of the Lost Arcade by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      FYI, they're taking all of the comics down from that website imminently (as in, planned to be gone on September 30 -- obviously hasn't happened quite yet, but I wouldn't expect them to stick around). Here they are on archive.org: https://web.archive.org/web/20140821130219/http://www.shiftylook.com/comics/galaga/invasion-part-1

  6. Are we sure Uwe Boll isn't available? by halivar · · Score: 2

    He's probably peeing his pants in excitement waiting for the phone call.

    1. Re:Are we sure Uwe Boll isn't available? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Michael Bay - imagine EXPLOSIONS when a line is annihilated!

  7. i couldn't help it.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I wonder if it'll be a BLOCK-BUSTER ;-)

    1. Re:i couldn't help it.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      And it will be full of classic one-liners

    2. Re:i couldn't help it.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      But it's the classic four-liners that will be the best parts.

    3. Re:i couldn't help it.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Eh, it'll just be endless variations on the same dick joke.

  8. Fuck my ass by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The fuck did I just read?

  9. I give up. by ashshy · · Score: 1

    First Battleship, now this.

    --
    #o#
    O Moo.
    1. Re:I give up. by jd2112 · · Score: 1

      First Battleship, now this.

      Hey, what ever happened to that Asteroids movie that they were supposed to be making?

      --
      Any insufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology.
    2. Re:I give up. by ganjadude · · Score: 1

      battleship was a half way enjoyable movie, once you stopped thinking about the fact that it was so called based on a game

      --
      have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
    3. Re:I give up. by Charliemopps · · Score: 5, Funny

      First Battleship, now this.

      Hey, what ever happened to that Asteroids movie that they were supposed to be making?

      The director didn't lead the target and by the time the movie arrived the public's interest was elsewhere.

    4. Re:I give up. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are you sure that some asshole tiny spaceship didn't sneak up on him and shoot a laser up his ass?

    5. Re:I give up. by Dave+Emami · · Score: 1

      First Battleship, now this.

      And next... Pong!

      --

      "The Greens lynched a hacker in Chicago. Last month, but I think the body's still hanging from the old Water Tower."
    6. Re:I give up. by Ksevio · · Score: 2

      I thought that was the best part of it! The plot basically made no sense and lots of unreasonable/impossible things happened, but after this huge setup of aliens and shields that prevent radar, for that 5-10 minutes they made it just like the game of firing on a grid coordinate and hoping to hit a ship!

    7. Re:I give up. by ClickOnThis · · Score: 1

      Basing it on the game was an enjoyable element, to a point. What ruined it for me is the ridiculous way the aliens sunk the ships: by hurling these bombs that were peg-shaped (per the game) so that they spun end-over-end, yet penetrated the ship at various points in more-or-less correct orientation (also per the game.) For a species that was capable of interstellar travel, that seemed like a spectacular technological fail.

      --
      If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
    8. Re:I give up. by Half-pint+HAL · · Score: 1

      First Battleship, now this.

      Hey, what ever happened to that Asteroids movie that they were supposed to be making?

      I think they may have hit the hyperspace button... never a good idea.

      --
      Got them moderator blues I blieve I walk out the do', With these mod-points I been gettin', I 'most never post no mo'
  10. Wtf does intergalactic have to do with Tetris? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "What you [will] see in Tetris is the teeny tip of an iceberg that has intergalactic significance."

    WAT

    1. Re:Wtf does intergalactic have to do with Tetris? by ArcadeMan · · Score: 1

      Icebergs... IN SPACE!

  11. Paint Drying by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I guess next year will come an "imaginative thing" about grass growing, paint drying, and waiting for a pot of water to boil.

    1. Re: Paint Drying by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And next will be a movie called "Ass". And that's all it will be - 90 minutes of staring at someone's ass. And it will win 8 Academy Awards, including best screenplay.

    2. Re: Paint Drying by Ol+Biscuitbarrel · · Score: 1

      Andy Warhol already went down the road in the 60s with films such as the 8 hour long Empire, which consisted of a single shot of the Empire State Building. Neat, eh?

      I see Warhol also threw together a flick with the alarming title Tub Girls. Although some of his films depicted graphic sexual acts this one apparently doesn't go further than showing one of his Superstars in the nude chatting with friends.

  12. 2008 Reboot of the Franchise by TheFakeMcCoy · · Score: 1

    They must be running out of titles to reboot these days, soon as I read the title I thought of this old (at the time fake) trailer.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

  13. Seems familiar... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Based on previous video game-to-movie conversions, I predict that it'll turn out that Tetris blocks are really the distant descendents of dinosaurs who got blown into a parallel universe when the comet hit.

  14. There's no script. by Oligonicella · · Score: 2

    I would imagine that this will be the kind of a movie that will be in the five dollar bin at Walmart's within a month of release. And there will be a lot of them that simply stay in that bin.

    1. Re:There's no script. by JanneM · · Score: 5, Funny

      I would imagine that this will be the kind of a movie that will be in the five dollar bin at Walmart's within a month of release. And there will be a lot of them that simply stay in that bin.

      At least they'll be neatly packed.

      --
      Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.
    2. Re:There's no script. by rwise2112 · · Score: 3, Funny

      I would imagine that this will be the kind of a movie that will be in the five dollar bin at Walmart's within a month of release. And there will be a lot of them that simply stay in that bin.

      At least they'll be neatly packed.

      Well not too neatly, or they'll just disappear!

      --

      "For every expert, there is an equal and opposite expert"
    3. Re:There's no script. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As lame a premise as this movie is promising, these DVDs will not be worth picking up at even the dollar store. There's no amount of stacking neatness that will help this sad lot disappear.

  15. Intergalactic Contest by necro81 · · Score: 1

    Let me guess: the fate of our universe depends on us winning the next Tetris tournament, because the other guys have won the last nine. One sage but somewhat aloof character - Christopher Lambert, perhaps, but with a Russian accent - will gather together a diverse team of fighters - no, arcade junkies - to battle an alien invasion force that has overwhelming technological superiority. Except that instead of actual battles, we'll get head-to-head Tetris. I can't wait for the cinemasins version of that

    1. Re:Intergalactic Contest by Charliemopps · · Score: 1

      Sounds like an episode of SouthPark or Regular show.

    2. Re:Intergalactic Contest by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I believe a whoosh is in order here

  16. This is redundant by Millennium · · Score: 4, Informative

    The only Tetris movie that ever needed to be made has already been made. Any further attempts will necessarily pale in comparison.

    1. Re:This is redundant by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sweet! Thanks for sharing.

  17. Coming soon to a theater near you! by Alsee · · Score: 1

    Pong: The future is in your hands.
    A cross genre action-scifi-romcom with human drama and real meaning.

    -

    --
    - - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
  18. Block by block by blueshift_1 · · Score: 1

    Sounds like it'll just be a very pixelated ender's game.

  19. Lead Role by mwvdlee · · Score: 5, Funny

    I assume Mr. T will get the lead role?

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    1. Re:Lead Role by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I hear they have already cast Keanu Reeves as an upright block!

  20. Book is better by allsorts46 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Eh, it'll never be as good as the book.

  21. FTL! Dwarf Fortress! Dead or Alive! by Thanshin · · Score: 1

    So many other games that would make better live action films...

    1. Re:FTL! Dwarf Fortress! Dead or Alive! by Meneth · · Score: 1

      They already made DOA: Dead or Alive . More spiritual licensees include Dwarf Fortress: The Movie and FTL: The Series .

    2. Re:FTL! Dwarf Fortress! Dead or Alive! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're saying Smaug brought fun?

  22. perfect! the film ive been waiting for! by nimbius · · Score: 4, Funny

    "it shall run for 140 minutes in length, star shiah lebouf and will ferrel, be directed by Michael Bay in 3D, and be inexplicably green-lit for endless sequels until we produce a live action bejewelled starring the remaining cast of Firefly and a jar of expired mayonaisse."
    -Satan

    --
    Good people go to bed earlier.
    1. Re:perfect! the film ive been waiting for! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      the jar wins the Oscar for best actor for its magnificient performance

  23. Why? by melly97 · · Score: 1

    lol

  24. The Prequel Has Already Been Announced by Compulawyer · · Score: 2

    Pong: Trapped Between Extremes

    --

    Laws affecting technology will always be bad until enough techies become lawyers.

    1. Re:The Prequel Has Already Been Announced by Compulawyer · · Score: 2

      Starring Christopher Walken, of course.

      --

      Laws affecting technology will always be bad until enough techies become lawyers.

  25. Its bound to be by Chrisq · · Score: 1, Funny

    Its bound to be . . . a Blockbuster

    (apologies - I couldn't resist)

  26. I am the man... by VorpalRodent · · Score: 1

    I am the man who arranges the blocks that descend upon me from up above!

    Tetris, the documentary

    --
    Take it to the limit, everybody to the limit, come on, everybody fhqwhgads.
  27. Obligatory Penny Arcade by zurmikopa · · Score: 2

    Obligatory Penny Arcade

    http://www.penny-arcade.com/co...

    1. Re:Obligatory Penny Arcade by Quantumprof · · Score: 1

      This is the first thing I thought of when I saw the headline.

      --
      Fnord.
    2. Re:Obligatory Penny Arcade by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 1

      From Windows 10 to Tetris: The Movie, the satirists just can't keep ahead of the real world!

  28. Bejeweled Blitz coming soon! by mpercy · · Score: 1

    Awesome!

  29. This is Tricia Takanawa .... by clickety6 · · Score: 2

    This is Tricia Takanawa reporting from the opening night of "Tetris:The Movie". I am standing outside the cinema and there are lines and lines of people waiting to get in... Oh, wait, They all disappeared."

    --
    ----------------------------------- My Other Sig Is Hilarious -----------------------------------
  30. Hollywood = self-parody by tverbeek · · Score: 1

    I'm pretty sure I've heard this story before.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

    A couple times.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

    --
    http://alternatives.rzero.com/
  31. So... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's a documentary then?

  32. Oh no! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Please tell me it's not going to have the Tetris Gods!

  33. Marvel could do it, they can't fail by bongey · · Score: 1
  34. The Monolith from 2001 has a major part by DutchUncle · · Score: 1

    Different shapes in our iconography and languages turn out to be influenced by the True Shapes, as our world is but a shadow of the True Realm.

    But where are the curves? Where are the non-right-angles (mustn't forget the pyramids)? Perhaps it's all a question of which True Shapes visited our world, like Babylon 5's explanation of all our religions as a proxy war between the law-and-order Vorlons and the what-do-you-want Shadows. (As opposed to Stargate's "chariots of the gods" theme of a proxy war between . . . other aliens.) Or maybe it's about how shadows falling on Earth's curved surface become non-Euclidean (what Tetris shape gives a shadow like a yin-yang symbol? Hmm . .)

  35. more proof we've lost the war on drugs by Thud457 · · Score: 1

    Obviously we've abjectly failed in stopping the flow of cocaine to Hollywood.
    Victimless crime, you say?

    --

    the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

  36. I'm quite sure that.... by Rhipf · · Score: 1

    any potential film is just hoping to ride the Tetris name. The actual movie will have nothing to do with the game (much like Battleships but at least that had battleships).
    If you make a movie called Tetris you are almost guaranteed there will be a built in audience that is going to go just to see what the movie has to do with the game.

  37. Have your people call mine by sizzzzlerz · · Score: 1

    I have a treatment of Chutes and Ladders - The Movie I'm shopping around. If you're interested, call me. We'll do lunch.

  38. Spolier alert by portwojc · · Score: 1

    It's a remake of the Last Star Fighter.

  39. Thomas Was Alone by jtnix · · Score: 1

    Mike, get ready. I would not at all be surprised if they purloin your backstory idea from TWA!

    --
    She blinded me with science, she tricked me with technology. ~ Thomas Dolby
  40. Not as compelling as Minesweeper by coldsalmon · · Score: 1

    They'll never top such an epic story: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

  41. TV Go Home by MrNemesis · · Score: 1

    This was already shown back on Charlie Brooker's TV Go Home over a decade ago. No link sadly as it's flagged as "obscene" by the company filter...

    TETRIS

    A Dark Thriller starring Nick Berry.

    Professor Jack Warburton discovers the source of the tumbling fun to be a shadowy government bureau, and uncovers the alarming scientific method by which complete rows of blocks mysteriously "disappear".

    Starring:
    Jack Warburton - Nick Berry
    Hannah Turnpike - Caroline Catz
    Spatial Awareness Dude - Dexter Fletcher
    L-shaped Block - Charles Dance
    Cerys Matthews - Ray Winstone

    --
    Moderation Total: -1 Troll, +3 Goat
  42. Penny Arcade, 11 years ago by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2003/01/24

  43. They already did a Castlevania movie. by Lilith's+Heart-shape · · Score: 1, Funny

    It starred Hugh Jackman and Kate Beckinsale, and it sucked so badly that Uwe Boll renounced his director's credit and Konami forced Universal Studios to change the name to Van Helsing .

  44. don't forget the Minesweeper movie by Cito · · Score: 1

    Minesweeper - The Movie: http://youtu.be/LHY8NKj3RKs

    Epic! ;-)

  45. I'm good at video games and bad at everything else by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    that's why i wish movies were more like a video game.
    What if that thing I said?

  46. Well... by Skiboy941 · · Score: 1

    At least it's not Uwe Boll.

  47. Maybe a movie about the creation of tetris itself? by Z80a · · Score: 1

    Like a fluffed up, full of drama and conspiracy surrounding Mr.Pajitnov?

  48. No Unity required by bi$hop · · Score: 1

    I love that the Tetris site provides a "No Unity required" option that requires Flash.

  49. Vladimir Tetrisovich Rasputin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Tetris movie's storyboard in short: A bare-chested uber-masculine Putin rides a russian brown bear into battle, to stop the invasion of CIA's stealthy geometric shapes, which threaten to transform the beautiful Ukraine into an ugly capitalist colony of the imperialists. The amazing marksman skill of this former KGB agent-turned-president-for-life will prevent the Free Speech, the Free Elections, the Market Economy and other similarly dangerous shapes with prion-like geometry from infecting Ukraine's brain. Rather, the victorious Putin will oversee integration of the entire Eastern Europe into the healthy host body of Mother Russia.

    This movie will be amazingly popular in France, Italy, Hungary, Serbia, etc. but markedly less so in Poland and the Baltic Republics. That is, until those countries are also assimilated into Mother Russia...

  50. Wrong game by idontgno · · Score: 1

    Arkanoid had an actual backstory, for $DIETY's sake. That puts it about 1,000,000 miles ahead of Tetris.

    --
    Welcome to the Panopticon. Used to be a prison, now it's your home.
  51. Minesweeper The Movie! by Blaskowicz · · Score: 2

    Minesweeper is an example this can be done, and it has been pretty well executed. See there :

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

  52. Could actually be good by BTWR · · Score: 2

    This *could* actually be good if they treat it like the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie. That movie simply made a Good Pirate film, not really tying it to the ride at all (that being said I recently went to Disney World and it's interesting that they've retcon'd the ride into being all about the Depp films).

    I can easily see them making an Indiana Jones-type sci-fi film where there is one small scene involving an alien puzzle that sort-of resembles a Tetris puzzle. The protagonist lines up some block line in Tetris, a door opens and the movie continues. 30 seconds of reference to the game while otherwise being an independent sci-fi film.

    Also, that's why I had high hopes for Battleship. It had a competent director and all he had to do was use a decent Navy/boat script - that's all. They weren't confined to any sort of plot at all. Too bad they messed it up (and, to be fair, I have to admit that the climactic scene with the anchor/flipping the boat around was pretty neat).

    1. Re:Could actually be good by LienRag · · Score: 1

      Actually, even if we all here agree that they will not, they could do a good Tetris movie with more than 30 seconds of reference to the game - remember Pi, and Tetris is more about mathematics than it is about cheap electronic consoles...

  53. Tetris: The Movie (Game Parody Song) by TC+Wilcox · · Score: 1

    I found this a year or two ago. Very funny. https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

  54. Where's the Tepples post about infinite spin? by CronoCloud · · Score: 1

    Waits for the inevitable Tepples post asking if the movie will have infinite spin, and asking what would be the "best practices" for someone who wanted to be an adviser on the game based aspects.

  55. Why not a movie about the history of Tetris? by Isaac-Lew · · Score: 1

    Isn't the story about the guy from Nintendo going to the Soviet Union (to try to track down the creator) something that could be used? Throw in some action scenes and a romance - there's your movie.

  56. I suspect... by Half-pint+HAL · · Score: 1

    I suspect that they've only bought the rights to the name, and that they did it because they thought it would be a good title for a spy film set in the final days of the Soviet Union, and that they figure that with the current craziness emanating from Russia the public will be interested in it.

    If so, do not expect it to be filmed in Russia, but in one of the other former Soviet states in Eastern Europe. Probably not Ukraine, though.

    --
    Got them moderator blues I blieve I walk out the do', With these mod-points I been gettin', I 'most never post no mo'
  57. What's next? by Elendil · · Score: 1

    Silly producers, they had to purchase IP rights from the game owners... we could increase our margin by using a public-domain game and make a FORTUNE!
    Some suggestions for forthcoming movies:
    - checkers
    - tic-tac-toe
    - go

  58. Why not? by jfengel · · Score: 1

    The answer, of course, is "money". People will go see this. Or if they don't, it's because they did a bad job of following the formulas. The summer blockbuster formula has worked out pretty well. People like watching stuff blow up, even if they could have predicted what would blow up and what it would look like before they paid $13 for a ticket.

    Battleship took in $300,000,000. It cost $200,000,000 to make. That's "why". People recognized the name, and hoped to combine their love of stuff blowing up with their fond memories of a game they used to play. They get a little charge out of the connections. It's worth $13 and two hours of their time.

    I could see this doing equally well. I can't say if it's the best use of the studio's quarter-billion-dollar investment, though it should be a reasonable one. It's more likely than some unknown script, which even if people really like it stands a very small chance of making more than $300 million without the extra name recognition.

    I probably won't be seeing it. Maybe I will; I saw the Lego movie, and it was pretty good (though I paid no more than my Netflix monthly subscription fee for it). I'd rather see them spend their money on something with a bit more merit, but that's just me.

  59. LINE PIECE! by RoverDaddy · · Score: 1
    --
    RETURN without GOSUB in line 1050
  60. Is this Secret Collect. Adventures all over again? by Chmarr · · Score: 1
  61. Two things. by Hussman32 · · Score: 1

    First lines of the script

    INT: GROCERY STORE PRODUCE AISLE
    BILLY BATS places the last orange on the stack with deft precision. He smiles as he views yet another body-centered-cubic masterpiece.

    BRILLIANT FLASHES OF LIGHT, and the King of the Megalocyclodroids enters through a worm hole and says.

    KING OF THE MEGALOCYCLODROIDS
    Billy Bats, WE NEED YOU!

    SCENE.

    Second point: Please, please tell me that Billy Bats is played by none other than DOLPH LUNDGREN!

    --
    "Who are you?" "No one of consequence." "I must know." "Get used to disappointment."
    1. Re:Two things. by Hussman32 · · Score: 1

      Except I forgot it's hexagonal close packing...doh!

      --
      "Who are you?" "No one of consequence." "I must know." "Get used to disappointment."
  62. Gump by tepples · · Score: 1

    Didn't they already make a Ping-Pong movie starting Tom Hanks as a table tennis star named Forrest?

  63. Arkanoid's plot for reference by tepples · · Score: 1

    Arkanoid is about global warming. It'd never get Republican butts in seats. At least Tetris Worlds tried to add a plot of opening stargates by playing Tetris.

  64. Hmm by MakersDirector · · Score: 0

    Being completely honest. I thoroughly enjoyed the Mortal Kombat movies.

    And Tetris, while it's a really shallow game - if you look at a movie like Cuba, Cuba, the premise is amazingly simple but the movie pulls of a really great story despite it's simplicity.

    I actually think - it could really make for an interesting story to hear 'what' caused the game's development and 'fictionalization' of the real life scenario...

    I anxiously await...