It has been announced that a Rubik’s Cube movie is, for some ungodly reason, in the works.
It’s being developed by Hyde Park Entertainment and Endeavor Content, and although not much else is known about the project so far, it doesn’t appear to be an untimely April Fools’ stunt.
Why a movie?
This is the burning question, and honestly, the answer is anyone’s guess. It’s likely going to be a deep dive into the life of the Cube’s creator, Erno Rubik, and the story behind the conception of his “Magic Cube” – later renamed for its inventor before becoming a household name.
One other possibility is that the Rubik’s Cube movie will contain an original story somehow based around the Cube – a la ill-fated Battleship movie – but that seems like more of a stretch than a biopic of Rubik himself.
In fact, a game show has also been mentioned as a potential alternate avenue by the folks at Endeavor Content, which would admittedly be a far better direction to take this unexpected license.
Can toys even work for the basis of good movies?
In a sense, yes… but largely, absolutely not.
While 2014’s The Lego Movie proved to be a successful toy-to-film adaptation, this is due to the diverse nature of the block-based product, allowing for cameos from countless pop-culture figures that fleshed out what might have otherwise been a pretty flat and uninteresting experience.
The adaptation of Battleship in 2012 is probably the best argument against giving toys the movie treatment. Based on the board game of the same name – very, very loosely, mind you – Battlefield struggled to establish any sort of coherent plot, and had no iconic characters to carry the shoehorned action.
Ultimately, while an Erno Rubik biopic could potentially prove interesting, although we wouldn’t advise holding your breath for it to win any awards.