SDCC 2024: Borderlands Cast Talks Costumes, Creatures & Cate Blanchett
Summary
Borderlandsexecutive producer Randy Pitchford explains how the movie connects to the games. Serving as an adaptation of the hit GearBox video game franchise, theBorderlandsmovie hails from director Eli Roth, with a screenplay by Roth and Joe Crombie. The film, which stars Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Jamie Lee Curtis, Cate Blanchett, Ariana Greenblatt, Haley Bennett, and Florian Munteanu, follows a team of misfits as they attempt to rescue a missing girl, who just might be the key to accessing a great power.
In a recent interview withEW, Pitchford, who serves as CEO of GearBox, the creator ofBorderlands, as well as an EP on the film, teases that the upcoming adaptation isn’t a straight retelling of any of the games. According to Pitchford, the movie telling its own story will create the opportunity to surprise viewers. Check out his comment below:
“We’re not retelling a story that we’ve told in the video games.We’ve created a cinematic universe that lives in parallel to the video game universeand can live in an independent timeline. It feels likeBorderlands, but you don’t know what we’re going to do.”
Is The Borderlands Movie Taking The Right Approach?
Why The Adaptation Could Be Controversial
On the surface, telling a story in a parallelBorderlandsuniverse with familiar characters isn’t a bad idea. As Pitchford explains, this approach will mean that those who played the games won’t just be experiencing the same story over again in the film. The movie also takes place in largely the same settings as the games, and the game locations are a big part of their charm.
What Planet Borderlands Takes Place On: Video Game History Explained
The trailer for the Borderlands movie showcases many of the beloved characters from the games. However, the central planet is equally as important.
On the other hand, the film not really adhering to a story from the games is part of a larger departure from the source material that could prove divisive to gamers. Almost all the video games in the franchise, for example, are rated M for mature, but theBorderlandsmovie is only rated PG-13. This suggestsit won’t feature the same levels of coarse language, violence, and mature themesfrom the games.
TheBorderlandscasthas also already been met with some criticism. While there’s a great deal of talent included in the roster of stars,not all of the actors resemble their video game counterparts. The comedic Hart, for example, has been criticized as an odd choice for the role of Roland, a physically-imposing military commando. It remains to be seen how theBorderlandsmovie will compare to the games, but it could end up being a divisive adaptation.
Borderlands
Cast
Based on the video game franchise, Borderlands is a sci-fi action-comedy film that follows Cate Blanchett as Lilith, a treasure hunter who returns to her home planet, Pandora, to find a tycoon’s missing daughter. Together with a group of unlikely allies, such as a soldier, a teenaged demolitions expert, a wise-cracking robot, and an eccentric scientist, the group will work together to save the girl - all while learning to deal with each other’s unyielding quirks.
