When Taron Egerton hops on a Zoom call with Total Film in early February 2023, he’s not in the usual chic hotel room or video-studio setting. In fact, he’s sitting in an unassuming kitchen, having returned home to Wales. After a busy run of work, he’s back to spend time with his family. ‘It’s nice, man,’ he smiles, dressed casually in a plain black T-shirt. ‘And also, I was in America for quite a while with [2022 Apple TV+ series] Black Bird being released. I came home for about a week, and then went and did a Netflix movie in New Orleans. So it sort of felt like I’ve not been home in ages.’
The jumping-off point for our chat today is Tetris, the latest film that Egerton stars in from Matthew Vaughn’s British-American production company Marv Studios. Directed by Jon S. Baird (Filth, Stan & Ollie), Tetris is not a video-game movie in the traditional sense. After all, that addictive, thumb-twiddling blockbuster is hardly blockbuster material. Instead, Tetris tells the story of the development of the insanely popular puzzler that would go on to sell hundreds of millions of copies, and the battle to secure the rights. If that sounds dry on the page, it involves globe-trotting, double-crossing, the Soviet Union, a race against time and pension-snaffling media baron Robert Maxwell.
Set in the late 80s, Tetris stars Egerton as Henk Rogers, a Dutch-born, US-raised entrepreneur living in Japan with his family. When he claps eyes on an early version of the game Tetris, he’s bowled over by its potential and sets out to secure distribution rights, which is anything but simple, and will see him heading to Moscow and putting his family’s livelihood on the line.
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
RETURN TO OZ
WICKED Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande defy gravity as the Broadway smash reaches cinemas.
GRIN AND BEAR IT
SMILE 2 Trauma-horror sequel sees the curse latch onto a pop superstar...
BAD ROMANCE
TIMESTALKER Alice Lowe falls in love with the wrong man time and time again...
CLOWNING GORY
TERRIFIER 3 Creator Damien Leone says Art the Clown is coming home for Christmas...
SELF EXPRESSION
LAYLA A non-binary, British-Palestinian drag queen navigates their expression of identity.
GENA ROWLANDS
I like difficult roles,' said Gena Rowlands. No kidding. A stage, TV and film actor whose career spanned more than six decades, Rowlands will be most remembered for the series of coruscating dramas she made with her first husband, actor-turned-director John Cassavetes, between 1968 and 1984.
'NOW NOTHING IS ABOUT LOOKS OR ABOUT BEING A LEADING LADY.AND IT'S VERY LIBERATING' EMILY WATSON
Since breaking hearts in Breaking the Waves, Emily Watson has delivered countless screen masterclasses, from Gosford Park and Punch-Drunk Love to Apple Tree Yard. Now, the English star goes toe-to-toe with Cilllan Murohy in Irish drama Smeal/ Things like hese and fronts 1V prequel Dune: Prophecy. Is it her second coming? It's elementary, my dear Watson...
BLODD PRESSURE
BASED ON STEPHEN KING'S MOST INFLUENTIAL BOOK AND WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY IT SCRIBE GARY DAUBERMAN, VAMPIRE MOVIE SALEM'S LOT FACED AN UNHOLY FIGHT TO GET TO OUR SCREENS. TOTAL FILM HUNTS DOWN DAUBERMAN AND STARS LEWIS PULLMAN AND MAKENZIE LEIGH TO LEARN ALL THAT WAS AT STAKE...
Lucky Man
He broke out in Beatles jukebox musical Yesterday and has a varied slate of juicy projects on the horizon, including a very different take on a superhero franchise. But, as the everhumble Himesh Patel tells Total Film, he puts a lot of it down to luck...
A BUE ABOVE
WORLD-BUILDER EXTRAORDINAIRE RIDLEY SCOTT IS ALSO THE MASTER OF THE DIRECTOR'S CUT, RESTORING HIS MISHANDLED GEMS INTO MASTERPIECES. WITH THE EXPANSIVE DIRECTOR'S CUT OF NAPOLEON NOW AVAILABLE TO STREAM, TOTAL FILM SPEAKS TO THE GREAT SCOTT ABOUT BLOWING UP BONAPARTE HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH EDITING AND WHY BIGGER IS (USUALLY) BETTER.