We’ve witnessed plenty of live-action films adapted from games in recent years. The trend kicked off in the ’90s but was replaced by comic book adaptations since the 2000s. While there are still mixed opinions on some of these films, many have been good, while also successful at the box office. 2024 continues this recent movie trend with the release of a well-loved game franchise, Borderlands – brought to South African screens by KOODOO.co.za.
Plenty of questions must be answered before the release on 9 August 2024 (with pre-release screenings on 8 August). The action-adventure film will no doubt be filled with plenty of action and comedy on the planet Pandora, where the vault hunters are searching for the ultimate prize. But, having announced the project in 2020 and having begun filming in 2021, why has the film taken three years to reach theatres? Additionally, what can we expect from the adaptation, and will it be true to the Borderlands source material?
1. Borderlands (2024) Synopsis And Characters
Set on the planet of Pandora, an infamous outlaw, Lilith (Cate Blanchett), returns to her home in order to find the daughter of the “universe’s most powerful S.O.B.,” Atlas. Having set out on her own, she allies with an unlikely team. The team includes Roland (Kevin Hart), a retired mercenary in search of redemption, Tiny Tina (Ariana Greenblatt), a crazy teenage demolitionist and her muscle, Krieg (Florian Munteanu) and Dr. Patricia Tannis (Jamie Lee Curtis), a scientist losing her sanity. The team is guided across the planet’s landscape by Claptrap (voiced by Jack Black), a zany robot.
The film also features Edgar Ramírez as Atlas, with Gina Gershon as Mad Moxxi. Magician Penn Juliette also makes an appearance in the film, as he did with a cameo in Borderlands 3.
The unlikely alliance must battle various bandits and alien monsters to uncover Pandora’s secrets and find the missing girl. They believe this girl holds the power to determine the fate of the universe, but they must overcome plenty of challenges along the way, including simply getting along.
2. Development History
Following some initial talk after the success of the second game in the franchise, Borderlands 2, a film adaptation was officially announced in 2015. Shortly thereafter, Lionsgate announced the development of the project with Ari and Avi Arad of Arad Productions producing it. Initially, Leigh Whannell was connected to the project as director, but in February 2020, Eli Roth grabbed the reigns for the project to both direct and co-write the screenplay alongside Craig Mazin.
Things progressed much faster after the initial delays, with casting concluding in March 2021, which included Blanchett, Hart, Black, and Curtis. Filming of Borderlands begun the following month in April 2021 in Budapest, Hungary. There were still a few challenges with the COVID-19 pandemic to mitigate, but principle photography was done by June 2021.
Post-production began with Roth along with Julian Clarke, and Evan Henke. However, things didn’t go quite to plan for the team and the film couldn’t be finalised with the footage available. This lead to a few more delays with reshoots only scheduled for two weeks in January 2023. At this stage, Tim Miller took up the mantle from Roth due to filming on other projects, but gave his blessing to Miller and remained part of the project’s post-production.
3. Rating And Fan Reactions
In more recent news, the film received a PG-13 rating, which left a few fans of the game scratching their heads. There are plenty of mature themes within the game, dealing with trauma and highly volatile situations – and that’s excluding the gratuitous violence.
Many fans of the original game would be well into their adult years at present, so the PG rating appears to attempt to seek a younger audience, who potentially wouldn’t know much about the game to begin with. Instead, the hype surrounding the film’s release may draw in new fans to the Borderlands franchise, expanding beyond PC and console.
4. Visiting Pandora In Borderlands (2024)
Based on the film’s synopsis and premise notes, we can already tell that the events of the film don’t follow the sequence set out in the Borderlands game franchise. Instead, there is a mix of stories from the first two games, along with some of the DLCs.
However, the game’s post-apocalyptic future still forms the base for the film, which could be labelled as a space Western science fiction. It may share a name with James Cameron’s Avatar world, but it is a far cry from the luscious landscape. Here, the landscape has been decimated by bandits and convicts, who have taken over much of the planet, leaving it in a state of a war-weary environment. You can see more from the world of Pandora in the trailer below.
Lilith and her team are set to take on the adventure across Pandora, as they set out on their quest to find Tiny Tina and a journey of discovery.
Are you ready to join in the exploration? Borderlands hits theatres on 9 August 2024. You can view booking information on Ster-Kinerkor and NuMetro.co.za.
Borderlands |
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Based on the best-selling videogame, this all-star action-adventure follows a ragtag team of misfits on a mission to save a missing girl who holds the key to unimaginable power. |
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| Studio: Lionsgate, Media Capital Technologies, Arad Productions, Picturestart, Gearbox Studios, 2K |
| Running Time: 102 minutes |
| Release Date: August 9, 2024 |
| Cast: Haley Bennett, Ariana Greenblatt, Jamie Lee Curtis, Cate Blanchett, Florian Munteanu, Gina Gershon, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Edgar Ramírez |
| Director: Eli Roth |
| Writers: Eli Roth, Joe Crombie |
| Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy |
| Box Office: N/A |
