MOVIE NEWS – Lionsgate has announced the release date for Borderlands, but how long will fans have to wait for director Eli Roth’s film?

When news first broke of Gearbox’s adaptation of Borderlands, fans couldn’t have been more optimistic. Although video game movies have failed in the past, a few diamonds in the rough have given viewers hope. Even more encouraging would be the creative minds behind the film. Cabin Fever director Eli Roth was known for putting his passion into his movies, making him the perfect choice to direct the film. Borderlands, starring Cate Blanchett and Jamie Lee Curtis, looked set to be a big hit. Then things started to go wrong. Tim Miller arrived to reshoot Borderlands, which caused a considerable delay. Filming started in 2021, and fans had been waiting years for the adaptation of the video game. Now they finally get their wish.

After announcing the tentative release year, Deadline revealed that Borderlands is set for release on August 9, 2024. According to the news, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Gina Gershon and Edgar Ramírez will join the cast list alongside other stars.

Lionsgate has been behind franchises such as The Hunger Games as a production company, and if all goes well, this will be another impressive achievement under the distributor’s belt.

The Borderlands cast list includes many of the game’s notable characters. Blanchett stars as Lilith, a playable Siren character whose abilities include phasewalking, and Curtis plays Tannis, who the actor has revealed has a love of inanimate objects. Fans can also expect to see Roland, Scooter and Claptrap. However, omitting essential characters such as Handsome Jack and Gaige raises questions about how the film will be adapted.

In the first Borderlands game, the player chooses a character and is mainly on their own. The player’s biggest relationship is with their handy-robot friend. Significant character relationships and villains appear in later games, drawing more attention to the discourse surrounding the games. With such a long production time, an important question may arise for many. Will this adaptation be any good? Adaptations such as The Last of Us have become essential viewing and a new benchmark for how well video game properties can be made, but this is under perfect circumstances.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that Borderlands didn’t turn out as planned, especially given the strange circumstances surrounding Craig Mazin’s writing credits. There’s still plenty of time to get the film right, but with the ongoing writers’ strike, that doesn’t inspire confidence.

Source: Deadline