Borderlands (2024)
Directed by: Eli Roth
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Ariana Greenblatt, Jamie Lee Curtis, Edgar Ramirez, Haley Bennett, Florian Munteanu
Opening on: August 9, 2024
Get ready for some outer space shenanigans as Eli Roth takes the helm for this adaptation of the popular and wacky video game series. The cast includes big names like Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, and Jack Black, and the film was written by Craig Mazin, who recently helped make a hit out of another acclaimed video game franchise, The Last of Us.
On the planet of Pandora, Roland, a mercenary soldier apparently gone rogue, kidnaps teenager Tiny Tina with the help of Krieg, a "Psycho" who was institutionalized in the same facility.
Meanwhile, on another planet, bounty hunter Lilith is contacted by Atlas, a powerful corporate magnate. He convinces her to rescue Tina, his daughter. Lilith returns to Pandora, her home planet, for the first time since she was a child. With the help of Claptrap, a robot that was mysteriously programmed to wait for her on Pandora, she locates Tina.
After realizing that Atlas wants his daughter back against her will, Lilith teams up with Roland and Krieg when they are attacked by the Crimson Lance, the private army of Atlas. Lilith is informed that Tina was genetically engineered with biological material from the Eridians, the ancient race that once inhabited Pandora, and that Atlas believes only she can open the Vault where the secrets of the lost civilization's advanced technology are kept.
With the help of Lilith's long-ago foster mother, Dr. Patricia Tannis, they locate the key to open the Vault in a underground maze occupied by a tribe of Psychos. They manage to take the key to the surface. Lilith destroys the device Atlas entrusted her with to signal when she had rescued Tina, and he immediately communicates with her via robotic drone, explaining that he still wants the girl. Tina overhears the end of the conversation and assumes Lilith has betrayed her. She throws a grenade at Lilith, leaving her unconscious. When Lilith recovers, Claptrap unknowingly plays a holographic message for her, recorded by her mother.
The next day, without Lilith and Claptrap, the team find the Vault only to realize Atlas is waiting for them. However, Tina is unable to open the Vault. Lilith appears and explains that she is the one who can do it, being an Eridian known as the Firehawk. Atlas threatens to kill Tina if Lilith does not open the Vault. She obeys but traps Atlas inside, where a creature drags him away. The group celebrates their survival.
Writer and director Eli Roth (left). Tim Miller (right) took over directing duties during reshoots.
In 2011, Gearbox Software CEO Randy Pitchford had his first conversation about a possible film adaptation of Borderlands with producers Avi and Ari Arad of Arad Productions.[17] In May 2015, Leigh Whannell was in talks with Lionsgate to write and direct an adaptation of the video game series.[18] The film was officially announced in August 2015; however Whannell's involvement was left omitted.[19] Aaron Berg was tapped to pen an R-rated take on the material in April 2016.[20] By June 2018, Oren Uziel assumed scripting duties from Berg.[21][22]
Eli Roth stated this his French bulldog pooping gave him inspiration while pitching the film. "I have to look away because she gets really shy. But one day I filmed her. She had that shy look on her face and I was like, 'That's Claptrap.'" A scene of Claptrap pooping was included in the final film.[23]
In February 2020, Roth was attached to direct the film from a screenplay written by Craig Mazin, with Erik Feig joining as producer through his production company Picturestart.[24] Cate Blanchett was cast as Lilith in May 2020.[4][25] Speaking of her decision to join the project, Blanchett said: "The gun-slinging stuff was so much fun. I got really absorbed in that whole world. I think there also may have been a little Covid madness — I was spending a lot of time in the garden, using the chainsaw a little too freely. My husband said, 'This film could save your life'."[26] The rest of the ensemble cast was announced between January and April 2021.[5][10] By that month, Mazin's script had been rewritten by Juel Taylor and Tony Rettenmaier; and again by Roth.[27]
Filming began on April 1, 2021, in Budapest, Hungary, during the COVID-19 pandemic, and wrapped on June 22.[28][29][30] On June 4, 2021, first look images of the cast were released, with black and white images obscuring all but the cast's silhouettes.[31] In January 2023, it was announced the film would be going through two weeks of reshoots directed by Tim Miller, due to Roth's commitments to Thanksgiving (2023).[32] Zak Olkewicz wrote new pages for Miller.[33] In June 2023, Mazin removed his name from the project, replaced by Joe Crombie; Mazin has denied reports that Crombie was his pseudonym.[34] Additional literary material was credited to Berg, Uziel, Taylor, Rettenmaier, Olkewicz, Chris Bremner, and Sam Levinson.[35] Steve Jablonsky composed the film's score after replacing Nathan Barr.[36][37]
Jimmy O’Dee, the stunt coordinator for the film, stated that scenes depicting heads being blown up and feet being cut off were cut to maintain a PG-13 rating.
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