Video game adaptations have become big business for movie studios, and the CEO and founder of Gearbox, Randy Pitchford, has plans for a new Cinematic Universe. Borderlands hits theaters this August with an all-star cast (Jamie Lee Curtis, Cate Blanchett, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, and more), bringing the hit video game franchise to life in live-action. Set on the planet of Pandora (not the one from Avatar), the film follows a group of gun-toting treasure hunters as they race to find the planet’s mysterious vault.
Speaking to GamesRadar+ about the upcoming movie (directed by Eli Roth), Randy Pitchford addressed the potential of a new cinematic franchise. While Pitchford acknowledges that any future installments depend on the success of this first movie, he admitted that there have been talks about future sequels. Pitchford said:
“I think it’s reasonable to imagine that we will start talking about the next Borderlands movie here. Maybe before the end of the year, we’ll see. Maybe sooner. But we are we are working very hard. And I have the biggest and best team that I’ve ever had working on what we know is exactly what our fans want from us. So I’m very, very thrilled. I can’t wait to talk about it. I wish I could just gush right now.”
Borderlands
- Release Date
- August 9, 2024
- Director
- Eli Roth
- Runtime
- 102 min
Why The Borderlands Movie Removed Fan-Favorite Characters
When the first trailer for Borderlands dropped online in March, fans immediately noticed that the movie had made some big changes from the video games. While the film appears to perfectly capture the surreal, chaotic nature of the Borderlands games, some major characters were notably absent from the trailer. Randy Pitchford addressed the missing characters, stating that there simply wasn’t enough room to include “everyone’s favorite characters in one movie.”
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However, Pitchford did tease that characters like Brick and Mordecai could make their big-screen debuts in a potential sequel, providing the first film succeeds at the box office. The CEO and founder continued:
“The answer is, well, man, I really hope there’s more than one movie. But you have to start somewhere and you have to focus on something. And I’ll tell you, it’s been difficult for me because sometimes when you find what your story needs to be, you just have to commit to it. And the characters – they live and breathe on their own at a certain point. Yeah, we create them. I’ve created some of our characters and our storylines. But they have their own lives and you have to let them tell you what to do, you know what I mean? I would be thrilled beyond belief for them to be appearing in future Borderlands movies or video games.”
The tides are turning for video game adaptations on the big and small screens. What was once considered a cursed endeavor has recently transformed into an incredibly lucrative market. Eli Roth believes the Borderlands film is releasing at a perfect time, hot off the back of immensely popular video game adaptations like HBO’s The Last of Us and Prime Video’s Fallout.
Borderlands
releases in theaters on August 9, 2024.