It feels like decades ago when Eli Roth shocked gaming fans by going from intense horror to a video game adaptation, and as we approach the release, the filmmaker is opening up about the journey it took to get Borderlands made.
Talking to Coming Soon about the movie, Roth dives into how tricky it was to adapt a video game. He notes that he looks to retain the wacky & weird energy of the original games.
“It’s bananas. I really wanted to keep the spirit of the movie in the spirit of the games. Randy Pitchford, the creator, was there with me every step of the way,” says Roth.
He details the idea of canon adaptations and balancing the worlds. Roth notes, “If I had my own idea for a joke that’s not part of Borderlands in the canon, he’s like, ‘Oh, that’s great. Claptrap would absolutely do this. All the character stuff that I wanted them to do, I’m like, ‘Okay, would Lilith do something like this?’ Or, ‘Is this a Tiny Tina move?’ He’s like, ‘That is so fantastic. We should do that in the game. That’s really, really terrific.’
Roth excites fans about how bonkers this will be, “So yeah, the film is fun. It is wild. It was a massive, massive undertaking – especially in Covid. People are going to have to wait a little longer for that one, but I’m really, really thrilled with it.”
As the release of Borderlands approaches, we still know very little. Roth and crew remain relatively secret about plot details, and we’ve seen no good glimpses of the characters beyond the above silhouettes.
Directed by Eli Roth, the all-star cast includes Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ariana Greenblatt, Florian Munteanu, Haley Bennett, Édgar Ramírez, Gina Gershon, Cheyenne Jackson, Janina Gavankar, Bobby Lee, Olivier Richters and Penn Jillette.
Borderlands is set for release sometime in 2024.