Expect to see both Tetris and Nintendo at the movies soon

Nintendo has not had the best of luck when it comes to the movie industry. The only one of their properties to ever receive a proper big screen adaptation is Super Mario Bros., a film whose legacy speaks for itself. Due to the failings of that project, Nintendo has very much been weary to jump back into the movie business -- until now, that is.

In a move similar to what Ubisoft is doing with their properties, Nintendo is planning on finally utilizing their famous characters and franchises in future feature films, and is doing so not by simply licensing out the series' to other producers, but by making the films in house themselves. This was confirmed to the world by president Tatsumi Kimishima, who would not commit on when the first one of these films would be released, but did promise "characters everyone knows will appear."

So yes, that could mean Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Donkey Kong, Pikmin -- any and all Nintendo brands are on the table here, with the possibility of animated (or yes, even live action) films based around all of them.

But while Nintendo is prepping their first big foray into the world of video game movies, another video game icon has just received the greenlight for its own movie: Tetris. The project was announced sometime ago, but just today has been confirmed to happen under the helm of producers Bruno Wu (a media mogul billionaire based in China) and Larry Kasanoff (the 90's Mortal Kombat adaptation.)

The project will be a co-production between Wu's China studio and Kasanoff's American based one, and is being pitched as an "epic sci-fi thriller" that will utilize a mix of Eastern and Western cast members. Budgeted at around $80 million, the project is going to be a major one for video game movies, and will begin production in China early next year.