In recent years, Gearbox Software’s Borderlands franchise has gained popularity and critical acclaim. After selling millions of copies, the games would become one of the best-selling franchises ever. Overall, the games are mostly first-person shooters with role-playing elements included and consist of seven main games in total.
In 2009, the first Borderlands game was released, marking the start of the popular video game franchise. Notably, the franchise is lauded for two specific reasons: its comic book-inspired, stylized animation and its post-apocalyptic elements. As successful as the games have been, it only makes sense that somebody would want a film adaptation. With the acclaim that Super Mario Bros. and Sonic the Hedgehog have had as video game adaptations, Borderlands is setting itself up to be a hit too.
Early Talks of a Borderlands Movie
Two years after the first game was released, the CEO of Gearbox, Randy Pitchford, would begin having conversations about a potential movie. Before Roth got involved, Pitchord had talks with Avi and Ari Arad about a Borderlines film, as they had found success with 2000’s movie, X-Men. Despite their success, Pitchford declined the film adaptation and would continue to do so.
While the Arad brothers couldn’t persuade Pitchford to make a Borderlands movie, they did change Pitchford’s mind about the idea. By researching their past projects, Pitchford saw that video game-to-film adaptations that remained faithful to the source material could be successful. From there, talks surrounding Borderlands would grow as other directors were rumored to adapt. Initially, there were reports that Leigh Whannell, who made The Invisible Man, was chosen as director.
Then, Aaron Berg, who made Section 6, was reported to be working on a Rated-R film. However, Pitchford would immediately shut those rumors down, as he didn’t think an R-rated film was the right move. According to Roth, the creation of the Borderlands movie took seven years before they finally settled on its cast and plot.
The Borderlands’ Ensemble Cast
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Kate Blanchett will play Lilith, also known as Siren in the game, who’s the leader of the group with special powers. As one of the most popular characters, Blanchett has big shoes to fill to please fans of the games, and she seems up for the challenge. Although she admits she’s not a good gamer, she became enamored by the Lilith cosplaying images she found online, which led to her decision to play the role.
Alongside Blanchett, Jamie Lee Curtis will play Dr. Patricia Tannis, a scientist and a friend of Lilith’s mother. Curtis’ decision to join didn’t require her to read the script beforehand. After talking to Randy’s wife, Kristy Pitchford, who created the Tannis character, Curtis found she had much in common with Tannis. Mostly, their similar sexuality, autism, and other non-neurotypical traits gave the Halloween star the confidence to bring her character to life.
Rounding out the cast, Jack Black will play the android Claptrap, who tags along for the mission. In preparation for the role, Black would take inspiration from David Lynch when voicing the character. Kevin Hart stars as the mercenary Roland, a different role that Hart isn’t known for playing as he’s not a comic relief type character. Additionally, 16-year-old Ariana Greenblatt, who starred in Barbie, plays demolition expert Tiny Tina.
Struggles Bringing the Games to the Big Screen
Ultimately, taking Borderlands from video games to the big screen was a challenging yet fun process for all involved. While director Eli Roth was preparing production, the COVID-19 vaccines were just becoming available to the public. After a period of forced isolation, Borderland’s cast and crew were excited as they could jump back into the real world without worrying about disinfecting everything they touched.
In order to capture the game’s craziness, the most unlikely group of top stars across comedy, drama, and horror genres would make the cast. According to Blanchett, cabin fever may play a part in her and her castmates’ decision to take part. Moreover, she expresses that the film’s lunacy allowed the cast and crew to have lots of fun as they could finally escape their isolation.
Following the end of COVID isolation, Roth would push the cast and crew to use the energy gained from their freedom in the movie. For instance, Greenblatt was encouraged to go wild during a specific, unscripted scene. After Roth filled a mannequin’s head with spaghetti, she was directed to throw it at everything and everyone in pure chaos. Although the scene wasn’t used, it shows the madness in the game and what fans should expect moving forward.
Roth wanted Borderlands to match the craziness of other popular films like Escape from New York and The Fifth Element. Overall, Roth wanted to take the anarchy introduced in the game and translate it to the big screen. So far, taking the movie’s level of absurdity into account, it’s safe to say that Roth has lots of material to work with to bring his vision to light.
More Borderlands Movies in the Future?
Despite being a video game adaptation, the movie isn’t retelling the story from the games. Instead, Pitchford states that the film is its own universe in parallel to the games, which means fans don’t have to play the game to understand the plot. Depending on its success, there may be more sequels or spin-offs to come from it. But who knows? In the world of Borderlands, anything is possible.
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