A movie and a game show based on the 3D puzzle toy Rubik’s Cube are in the works.
The movie hails from Ashok Amritraj’s Hyde Park Entertainment Group and Endeavor Content, while the game show is being developed by Hyde Park Entertainment Group and Glassman Media ― an Endeavor Content subsidiary known for producing NBC’s The Wall.
Though an official logline has yet to be released, The Wrap reported that the Rubik’s Cube movie will tackle how the iconic toy became a pop culture phenomenon in the ‘80s and continued to be relevant even today.
The film will be produced by Ashok Amritraj and executive produced by Priya Amritraj and Addison Mehr for Hyde Park, while the game show will be executive produced by Ashok Amritraj and Andrew Glassman of Glassman Media.
While it’s not clear if the movie will be in the form of a documentary like Netflix’s The Speed Cubers, it doesn’t seem to be a live-action adaptation of Rubik, the Amazing Cube ― a Saturday morning animated series that aired for one season on ABC back in 1983.
The 13-episode Rubik, the Amazing Cube featured a magic Rubik’s Cube named Rubik who could fly through the air and had other special powers. Rubik could only come alive when the colored squares on his sides had been matched up.
While the Rubik’s Cube game show can be interesting, the same can’t be said about the movie, at least, according to some people on Twitter.
Game show: OK. Cool. Could actually be interesting.
Movie: …….why, tho?
— NoStrife(Josh) | ✊?❤?️? (@NoStrife2) January 3, 2021
Like most films based on toys, the Rubik’s Cube movie has received negative initial reactions from social media users:
if they are still on toys and games becoming movies, perhaps look at the track record and see the Risk involved, hollywood’s Pursuit of that genre is Trivial at this point, they must be in Trouble, and when it does not payout big they will be Sorry
— Shadow (@Shad0wner) January 4, 2021
Im up for anything and especially happy to see people get their work made, but seriously? We have so many movies and tv shows not made that could be more interesting than this along with creatives waiting for their original work to be made and yet we get a movie about a square.
— Daniel Colaianni (@Daniel91999) January 3, 2021
Like a Rubik’s Cube, most people will lose interest after 30 seconds
— gianmarco (@GianmarcoSoresi) January 3, 2021
Great! A toy I couldn’t solve gets a movie I won’t see
— K-Bow (@kbow76) January 3, 2021
— dotty (@so_whatbruh) January 3, 2021
— Luke Pritchard (@Lukerock456) January 3, 2021
A movie and a show based on Rubik’s Cube were being shopped as far back as 2010, but it’s only now that the two projects got a producer attached.
“I’ve had a personal and nostalgic connection to the Rubik’s Cube from my early days in India,” producer Ashok Amritraj said in a statement. “I am thrilled to partner with Endeavor Content and Rubik’s/Smiley and look forward to creating a wonderful and complex Rubik’s universe.”
Meanwhile, Graham Taylor and Chris Rice ― co-presidents of Endeavor Content ― said “the Rubik’s Cube is an iconic and family-friendly brand” and they “look forward to creating film, television, and game show content for global audiences” in partnership with Hyde Park.
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Invented by Hungarian sculptor and architecture professor Erno Rubik in 1974 and was licensed as a toy in 1980, the Rubik’s Cube has sold over 450 million units worldwide. The classic toy has seen a resurgence since 2018 when amateur and professional “speedcubers” from all over the world started to face each other, battling for the chance to prove their skills in the Rubik’s Cube World Championship Finals at Boston.