By Brett Ratner and his production company partner James Packer are reportedly developing a movie about the creation of Tetris, focusing on the game’s Russian designer Alexey Pajitnov.
As noted on Wikipedia, Pajitnov created Tetris in 1984 with the help of fellow designers Dmitry Pavlovsky and Vadim Gerasimov. The game appeared in the west in 1986, and you know the rest of the story. (Apparently Pajitnov did not get royalties for creating Tetris until 1996. Wonder if he wound up efficiently moving and arranging different-shaped boxes in warehouses to pay the bills.)
I know, I know, Ratner’s name probably inspired nerd rage in some of you. That’s warranted. He’s kind of a low-level journeyman with name recognition and clout–a plain ol’ box when what we really need is a T-block. But this Tetris movie can’t be any worse than Pixels, right? RatPac Entertainment is attached to some interesting films (e.g., Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s The Revenant), and with the right talent behind the direction and screenplay, this could be an interesting period piece about gaming in the 80s and the Soviet Union.
Then again, maybe Magneto can throw flaming L-blocks at stuff. And Vinnie Jones can play the I-block.
[via /Film]