Eli Roth signs on to direct a movie adaptation of the popular video game Borderlands. Released in 2009, the original Borderlands was a first-person shooter game with role-playing elements about a motley group of adventurers traveling to the alien world Pandora (not the same one as in James Cameron‘s Avatar) in search of a legendary vault and doing battle with various threats both animal and human.
After that first game proved to be a huge hit for the companies Gearbox Software and 2K, a sequel Borderlands 2 was released in 2012 that would go on to be truly massive, with a reported 22 million copies sold. 2019 saw the release of Borderlands 3, which proved gamers still had a huge appetite for the decade-old title by selling 5 million copies within five days and bringing the game series over the $1 billion mark in total sales. Altogether, 5 games have been released under the Borderlands banner for PC and console, shipping a combined total of over 45 million copies.
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Given the huge success of the games, a Borderlands movie was a near inevitability, and indeed Lionsgate began developing an adaptation back in 2015. Now, as reported by Deadline, the Borderlands movie has found its director in noted horror movie helmer Roth. Production is slated to begin later in the year. Roth said in a statement:
“I’m so excited to dive into the world of Borderlands and I could not be doing it with a better script, producing team, and studio. I have a long, successful history with Lionsgate – I feel like we have grown up together and that everything in my directing career has led to a project of this scale and ambition. I look forward to bringing my own energy, ideas, and vision to the wild, fun, and endlessly creative world of the game. Randy Pitchford and everyone at Gearbox have been incredibly supportive of my ideas – it really feels like a perfect storm of creators coming together. We are out to make a new classic, one which the fans of the game will love, but also one which will find new audiences globally.”
At last report, Borderlands was being penned by Oren Uziel, a writer best known for 22 Jump Street and The Cloverfield Paradox, but a new draft has reportedly been tackled by Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin (a development that may increase fans’ enthusiasm for the project). Chris McKay (The LEGO Batman Movie) was at one time reported to be helming.
New Borderlands director Roth of course is primarily associated with the extreme horror genre thanks to his gory films Cabin Fever, Hostel, Hostel: Part II and The Green Inferno. However, Roth in recent years has expanded his range into thrillers with the Keanu Reeves-led Knock Knock, urban action with the Bruce Willis starrer Death Wish and family-friendly fantasy with The House with a Clock In Its Walls. Most recently, it was revealed that Roth was working on Clownpocalypse, a horror franchise encompassing multiple projects including a film, a video game and a short form series.
Now Roth will branch out further with his first video game adaptation. Borderlands indeed seems like a title that suits Roth well given its over-the-top action and humorous tone. The film will represent a challenge for the filmmaker though, as its expansive sci-fi world is definitely bigger than anything he’s ever tackled before. The casting process should be interesting as actors are chosen to embody the Borderlands games’ array of off-beat sci-fi/action characters.
Source: Deadline
