Eli Roth, director of the much-reviled Borderlands adaptation, has spoken out on exactly what went wrong with the film.
The movie holds a Rotten Tomatoes score of just 10%, and it grossed only $33 million worldwide.
"As things grow bigger, studios just naturally become more risk averse," Roth told Variety. "My nature as a filmmaker is to do the thing that's left of center, because that's what has worked for me."
The film was rated PG-13, and studio executives pushed for changes to ensure the classification – a somewhat eyebrow-raising move, considering the games' level of violence and irreverent sense of humor.
"You got something that belonged to nobody," Roth added. "It's not a kids' movie, but it's trying to appeal to everybody. It's for gamers, but it doesn't have the violence the gamers want because it can't be that extreme because it costs too much. You just wind up with a movie that's neither fish nor fowl."
Despite a starry cast – Cate Blanchett, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Ariana Greenblatt all had leading roles – the film was a critical and commercial flop.
"The Gearbox title gamers loved has spawned a frenetic and disorderly shambles they're likelier to loathe. Claptrap? You said it," reads our 2-star Borderlands review.
Still, the future looks bright with video game adaptations like The Legend of Zelda movie and God of War TV show on the way.
You can keep up to date with everything that's on the way with our guide to all the upcoming video game adaptations.
