Written by Kianna Best on Apr 6, 2023. Posted in Production News

Scotland doubles for Russia in new Apple TV Tetris movie

Apple TV travelled to the streets of Scotland for the filming of their new Tetris Movie which hit the streaming platform 31 March. Capturing the dramas behind the creation of the popular game in 1980’s Moscow, the series stars Taron Egerton and Nikita Efremov, with  director Jon S Baird at the helm. GBP 500,000 funding for the project was invested by Screen Scotland.

Unlike the game’s colourful display, Tetris portrays a darker side to the development of the popular puzzle game, and what was experienced in trying to get it out of the Soviet Union and to the masses. Taron Egerton plays the Dutch game designer Henk Rogers who takes a direct approach in bringing the game to the global stage by travelling to the Soviet Union to meet Alexey Pajitnov, played by Nikita Efremov, who invented the game in 1984.

Set against darker days, Scotland’s disposition to be a bit on the cloudier side came in handy as the perfect substitute for Moscow and the emotional essence of the project. After original location plans fell through in 2021, the film found the perfect alternatives in Edinburgh, Ayrshire, Glasgow and Aberdeen, home town of director Baird. Known as the granite city, Aberdeen’s solid structures fit perfectly with the aesthetic. The University of Aberdeen’s zoology building exterior was used for filming as well as Seamount Court, opposite the North East Scotland College in the city centre, which featured in the trailer for the film.

"I will do anything to highlight that part of the country,” Baird told BBC Scotland. “We don't really have movies shot in Aberdeen or Aberdeenshire. "We were such a novelty for them, they were turning out in their hundreds to watch us film. It was really special. We found two or three of our best locations in Aberdeen."

Images courtesy of Apple TV+