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The Borderlands movie is now out! The live-action adaptation of the beloved video game franchise (featuring some of best shooter games ever made) has been a long time coming. Nine years after it was first announced, we can finally see it. The reviews are now in, the screenings are planned at your local multiplex, and we've got the lowdown on everything you need to know.
The film follows Lilith (Cate Blanchett) as she returns to Pandora on a rescue mission. She's trying to find the daughter of a powerful man called Atlas (played by Edgar Ramirez) and she gets some help along the way from a ragtag gang of misfits... The star-studded cast includes everyone from Jack Black to Jamie Lee Curtis, as well as some big surprises. So, if you want the ultimate guide to the new adaptation, from the plot to the cast, read on.
Borderlands release date
Borderlands was released on August 8 in the UK and August 9 in the US.
It hasn't had the easiest ride toward the big screen. Filming wrapped back in 2021, with behind-the-scenes footage screening behind closed doors at CinemaCon 2022. Deadpool director Tim Miller took over for two weeks of reshoots in 2023, whilst Roth was busy with his horror slasher Thanksgiving. So yeah, this has been a long time coming and a very strained production story, to say the least.
Borderlands review
The first reactions to Borderlands haven't exactly been glowing... The early reactions to the movie called it "unfunny", "uninspired", and "a disaster".
Our own Borderlands review was two stars, with Total Film's critic Neil Smith calling it a "shambles".
He wrote: "Eli Roth’s caper has taken three years to reach us, had its reshoots entrusted to another director (Deadpool’s Tim Miller), and has a co-writer in Joe Crombie who appears to have no other credits. Small wonder it feels so messily chaotic, with cheap-looking FX and dodgy matte work adding to its woes. "Feel free to applaud" Hart quips at one point after driving an APC through the skull of a gargantuan, tentacled monster. Sorry Kevin, but the only applause Borderlands deserves is a slow handclap of derision."
Borderlands trailer
Lionsgate posted the final Borderlands trailer at the end of July 2024, and it's packed with sci-fi fun and shooting.
The brief clip introduces us to Cate Blanchett's Lilith, who reluctantly returns to her home planet of Pandora and embarks on a treacherous mission to steal some treasure from a secret vault, alongside newfound accomplices Tiny Tina (Barbie's Ariana Greenblatt), Claptrap (Jack Black), Krieg (Florian Munteanu), and Roland (Kevin Hart). There are a lot of exciting special effects at play here, so fingers crossed all the delays are because we're about to get one of the best video game movies of all time.
Borderlands plot
Per Lionsgate, the official plot synopsis for Borderlands is as follows: "Lilith an infamous outlaw with a mysterious past, reluctantly returns to her home planet of Pandora to find the missing daughter of the universe's most powerful S.O.B., Atlas. Lilith forms an alliance with an unexpected team – Roland, a former elite mercenary, now desperate for redemption; Tiny Tina, a feral pre-teen demolitionist; Krieg, Tina's musclebound, rhetorically challenged protector; Tannis, the scientist with a tenuous grip on sanity; and Claptrap, a persistently wiseass robot."
"These unlikely heroes must battle alien monsters and dangerous bandits to find and protect the missing girl, who may hold the key to unimaginable power. The fate of the universe could be in their hands, but they'll be fighting for something more: each other."
In an interview with IGN, Gearbox founder and CEO Randy Pitchford told viewers to get ready for the BCU, as the film is meant to be the first of many: "One of the cool things about the movie is we've created a cinematic universe that lives side by side with the video game universe."
"And, of course, the characters are there and authentic in the themes and even some of the storylines. But they're independent storylines. So this isn't Borderlands 1. This isn't Borderlands 2. The Borderlands movie is the first of the Borderlands Cinematic Universe," he continued. "And you'll see some characters from some of the different parts of what you might know from the video games. But it also gives us an opportunity to get deeper and expand a little bit."
Borderlands cast and crew
Eli Roth first signed on to direct back in 2015, with The Last of Us showrunner Craig Mazin set to co-write the script. However, a lot has changed with Roth exiting (but still remaining the main director) due to scheduling conflicts and Mazin removing his writing credit from the film. The script is now co-written by a mysterious 'Joe Crombie' (which people are adamant is Mazin's pseudonym), with Tim Miller (Deadpool) taking over for reshoots.
According to IGN, Mazin has "nothing to do with the pen name Joe Crombie." Later, Mazin confirmed as such to Variety. "I am not a credited writer on the film, so I cannot claim any kind of authorship of Borderlands, much less co-writing," The Last of Us co-creator said in a statement. "I did see the report about the pseudonym, which is false. I did not use a pseudonym. If the name in question is indeed a pseudonym, all I can say is… it's not mine."
Cate Blanchett leads the film as Lilith, with Kevin Hart (Roland), Jack Black (Claptrap), Florian Munteanu (Krieg), and Ariana Greenblatt (Tiny Tina) in tow.
"[Claptrap is] a cool, fun, little turn, and another opportunity to bring a great video game to the silver screen," Black told GamesRadar+, describing the character as an 'an R-rated R2-D2.' "We're kind of in the middle of a video game movie renaissance right now, and I'm stoked to be a part of it."
Jamie Lee Curtis, who plays Dr. Tannis, once described Borderlands as "badonkadonk bonkers" in an interview with Total Film. And, with such a stacked cast, we can see how that description came about!
You can read the full Borderlands movie cast list down below.
- Cate Blanchett – Lilith
- Kevin Hart – Roland
- Jack Black – Claptrap
- Ariana Greenblatt – Tiny Tina
- Edgar Ramirez – Atlas
- Florian Munteanu – Krieg
- Gina Gershon – Mad Moxxi
- Jamie Lee Curtis – Dr. Patricia Tannis
- Bobby Lee – Larry
- Olivier Richters – Krom
- Janina Gavankar – Commander Knoxx
- Cheyenne Jackson – Jakobs
- Charles Babalola – Hammerlock
- Benjamin Byron Davis – Marcus
- Steven Boyer – Scooter
- Ryann Redmon – Ellie
- Harry Ford – Middleman
- Penn Jillette
- Haley Bennett
For more, check out our guide to the other best upcoming movies on the horizon and our look at 2024's movie release dates at a glance.
