Cube (film series)

Cube is a Canadian psychological thriller horror film series. The three films were directed by Vincenzo Natali, Andrzej Sekuła, and Ernie Barbarash respectively.

All three films are centered, with slight variations, on the same science-fictional setting: a gigantic, mechanized cubical structure of unknown purpose and origin, made up of numerous smaller cubical rooms, in which most or all of the principal characters inexplicably awaken in the opening scenes. Each of these rooms has six heavy vault doors, one on each face of the cube, which lead into adjacent, largely identical rooms, differing occasionally by colour of lighting. Some of these rooms are "safe", while others are equipped with deadly booby traps such as flamethrowers and razorwire. In some cases it is possible to detect a trap by throwing an object into the room first, although this method is not always reliable due to the trigger mechanism of certain traps.

In each case, a group of strangers awakens in this mysterious structure, without any knowledge of how or why they are there. In order to escape from the prison, they must band together and use their combined skills and talents to avoid the traps and navigate out of the maze, while also trying to solve the mystery of what the cube is and why they are in it. However, the pressure of being in the Cube generally turns one of the prisoners into a homicidal maniac who preys on the others.

Cube Zero was slightly different from the first two films in that it also dealt with the people on the outside of the Cube whose job it was to control the cube and oversee those within.

A fourth film was rumored in March 2011, and a remake of the first film was announced in April 2015.

Current films

Cube (1997), the first film in the series, follows a group of seven frightened strangers who find themselves trapped in a bizarre maze of cubical rooms, with no memory of how they arrived there. Searching for a way out, they soon discover that many rooms contain lethal booby traps, while others are safe. Initially the prisoners band together in attempt to escape, however as their stay becomes longer the prisoners begin to fight each other because of the stress of their imprisonment. Despite the film's low budget, it achieved moderate commercial success and has developed a cult following due to its surreal, Kafkaesque setting.

Cube 2: Hypercube (2002) is a sequel to the film Cube. The dusky, dingy rooms of the first film are replaced with high-tech, brightly lit rooms, and the conventional technology of the original traps are replaced with threats based on abstract mathematics. A new group of prisoners quickly discovers that, unlike the original Cube, the rooms in their prison appear to shift instantaneously. They realize they are inside a hypercube in which gravity, space, and time are distorted. This time the prisoners each have a connection to the cube's suggested creator.

Cube Zero (2004) is a prequel to the film Cube. Unlike the first two films, which were limited to the prisoners' point of view, the film concerns two characters, Eric Wynn and Dodd, who are technicians observing the prisoners. Wynn finds himself caring about the fate of Cassandra Rains, a woman in the Cube, and decides to risk his job and even his life to help her try to escape. The rooms are similar to the original film, except that the colors are not as bright as in the first film.

Possible sequels or remakes

In March 2011, it was rumored that Lionsgate Films was considering an additional film in the series, tentatively titled Cube 3D.

In April 2015, The Hollywood Reporter announced that Lionsgate Films plans to remake the original film under the title Cubed, with Saman Kesh as director.

Mythology

The world in which the Cube series is set is kept secret from the viewer of the films throughout. The first Cube, in particular, portrays nothing of the world in which the film is set, who is responsible for the Cube, or why the prisoners are there. Hints are, however, given throughout the second and third films. The film's writer, Vincenzo Natali, apparently wrote a script detailing the world outside the Cube, but destroyed it after deciding not to create a movie about it. The plot devices used in Hypercube and Cube Zero (IZON and the government) are likely not (or only very loosely) related to Natali's original idea.

The first film is especially most ominous about the outside world; there is no indication of where or when the Cube was built, nor the timeline of it (although it is generally assumed to be present day). Although the main characters are presumably North American due to them speaking English with typical North American accents, there is no evidence of the Cube built in the U.S. However, in the second film, a U.S Colonel displays knowledge of the first Cube's existence and layout. Despite that, since the Cube from the first film is actually a 'second' Cube (due to the prequel third film), the Colonel could be either talking about the very first Cube from the prequel or this one.

The second film reveals that a company named Izon is responsible for the Cube. Several exterior shots prove that it is set in present time. The Cube's disturbing nature and the sheer impossibility of it being a physical construct (since it's technically an endless tesseract) makes the location ambiguous. Furthermore, Izon is a private company, but the presence of the aforementioned Colonel and his knowledge of the Cube suggests that the U.S government is involved.

The third Cube shows its personnel, consisting of management (known as "people upstairs") and technicians who operate the Cube and oversee the people placed inside. All people trapped in the Cube are death row inmates with their memories deleted and who willingly signed in to be placed inside instead of being executed. The Cube appears to be operated by a repressive, totalitarian government (likely to be United States). At one point, when one technician finds no signature on consent form of a woman trapped inside, it shows that the government also imprisons political opponents inside against their will (proven right when the technician finds her picture in a newspaper showing her in a political protest).

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Contents

Current films

Possible sequels or remakes

Mythology

References