Lancashire boy to star in new Roblox film coming out this weekend

It’s one of the world’s most popular computer games, played by millions of children across the country every day.

Now Roblox is making the leap from the small screen to the silver screen - and a Lancashire schoolboy is one of the stars.

Ilyaan Dar, 10, from Blackburn is the youngest of six children who applied to be part of Kartoon Channel’s Gaming Challenge UK, which will be released in Vue cinemas on April 19. The children were filmed at home with webcams and headsets competing in eight bespoke Roblox challenges including Rumble Raceway, Shark Bait, Cock-a-Doodle Dash and Puppy Parkour over one weekend. Losing competitors were eventually eliminated at the end of each round - with prizes available including a PS5, iPad and mobile phones.

Ilyaan’s father, Ikrash, 39, a GP from Blackburn, believes his son’s love of computer games could lead to a career, and put him forward when he saw an advert on social media asking for players. Ilyaan has been playing Roblox since the age of six, and has also competed in archery, horseriding, gymnastics and also made his own YouTube videos. So Ikrash, who is married to NHS pharmacist Laila, was confident that despite his young age, Ilyaan could hold his own.

He said: “I told Ilyaan I’d seen a Roblox competition where you can win a PS5 games console. I’d already promised him one if he got good grades, and thought if he won it, it would be a win-win.

“Ilyaan has always loved gaming, he’s one of those kids. So whenever an opportunity comes up, I like to open doors for him and then just go with the flow. We’re in a video game era. Kids are either playing games, or they’re watching videos of kids playing games. I’d rather Ilyaan be the kid playing.

“From a young age, we did a little trial of creating YouTube videos, as he’s always had a really good persona and charisma on video. I thought the competition would be a good opportunity, a step up from him doing our videos. We applied, and got a call from the producers, and we started having Zoom meetings and everyone went out of their way to meet our needs. Really commendable.”

Ikrash took Ilyaan, who has a younger brother Zaydaan, four, to gymnastics classes from when he was 18 months old - which transitioned to wrestling. His dad says he’s a sociable child, who loves being outdoors.“ Ilyaan picks up things really quickly. He was the youngest competing in the Roblox film, and we just left him to his own devices and every so often we’d hear him screaming from joy in his room.

“He won a PS5, a gaming laptop, the headset, and Roblox Robux money. But the prizes were secondary. The real prize was him having fun, him getting his face out there and being appreciated by an agency in Beverly Hills in Los Angeles, so that was the main prize.”

Kartoon Channel president Paul Robinson said: “We know many adults will have never even heard of Roblox and the prospect of watching children play video games in an 85-minute film may not instantly appeal. But he describes the film as akin to a game show, like watching The Chase of The Generation Game with your family.

“We’re confident that parents and grandparents will come along. They want to understand the things their kids love doing and be able to engage with them.”