Borderlands movie director accidentally revealed ahead of Gearbox PAX East showing

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Expect people to explode in this movie

(Image credit: 2K Games)

The Borderlands movie was confirmed to be in the works at Lionsgate back in summer 2019, and thanks to a premature tweet from Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford, we now know who's directing the adaptation: Eli Roth, of Hostel and Cabin Fever fame. 

As Kotaku reports, Pitchford tweeted and quickly deleted the announcement last night. "I'm very excited to welcome Eli Roth as director of the Borderlands movie in development with Lionsgate and Arad Productions," he said, adding that more information will be shared at Gearbox's PAX East show on Thursday, February 27. The tweet also included an appropriate image:

(Image credit: Gearbox)

Pitchford's announcement apparently came too soon, but the CEO is still busily hyping the studio's February 27 show. We've never actually heard much about the Borderlands movie other than that it exists, so hopefully Gearbox's show sheds some light on its plot and the rest of its cast. In June 2019, Full Circle Cinema reported that the film will focus on Lilith and Tiny Tina, but to my knowledge Gearbox never confirmed anything, and it's possible the story has shifted in the past year. 

One thing's for sure: with Eli Roth at the helm - Eli 'the more blood, the better' Roth - the Borderlands movie will be at least as raunchy and gory as the games. The best Borderlands 3 Legendaries routinely liquify bandits and the like, which I imagine is music to Roth's ears. That said, after Pokemon Detective Pikachu and now Sonic, video game movies have recently climbed from the depths of abject garbage to the dizzying heights of actually pretty decent. Here's hoping the Borderlands movie continues the trend. 

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Austin Wood
Austin Wood
Senior writer

Austin has been a game journalist for 12 years, having freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree. He's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize his position is a cover for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a lot of news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.