Borderlands Footage Reaction: Guardians Of The Galaxy Meets Fallout In This Video Game Adaptation [CinemaCon 2024]
"Borderlands" is one of the most popular video game franchises of the 2000s. Now, it's becoming a movie, with Lionsgate hoping to turn it into a franchise for the big screen. Directed by Eli Roth, this video game adaptation has been in the works for a long, long time, but it's finally hitting theaters this summer. That being the case, the studio brought some new footage from the film to this year's CinemaCon in Las Vegas, and I was on hand to see what Roth cooked up.
One thing the movie has going for it is a stellar A-list cast led by Cate Blanchett ("Thor: Ragnarok") as Lilith. The ensemble also includes Jack Black ("The Super Mario Bros. Movie"), Kevin Hart ("Lift"), Jamie Lee Curtis ("Halloween"), Ariana Greenblatt ("Barbie"), Florian Munteanu ("Creed II"), and Edgar Ramirez ("Yes Day"). It also, at one point, had "The Last of Us" and "Chernobyl") writer Craig Mazin attached, but he fought to get his name removed from the project.
That's not a great sign and it suggests things were a little chaotic behind the scenes. To illustrate just how long this movie has been in the works, "Borderlands" wrapped filming nearly three full years ago in summer 2021. Yet, it required reshoots that had to be overseen by "Deadpool" director Tim Miller, as Roth had already moved onto "Thanksgiving." All of that having been said, let's talk about what we saw in Vegas.
Eli Roth brings Borderlands to life
If Roth was hoping to avoid drawing further comparisons between his latest movie and James Gunn's "Guardians of the Galaxy" films, well, the CinemaCon footage didn't do his cause any favors. Much like the theatrical "Borderlands" trailer, this new preview strongly paralleled Gunn's take on the biggest a-holes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, starting with a clip of the movie's heroes bickering as they ride a truck through the desert (before getting doused in "piss wash").
Another clip showed the movie's leads running away from Mauraders in a very "Mad Max"-style chase sequence, only with futuristic cars, drones, and more humor spliced in. There were also some "Guardians"-esque needle-drops in the forms of "Do You Want My Love" (which naturally accompanied an action montage featuring the movie's team of sorta-do-gooders kicking ass) and "Come Sail Away" (signaling a shift as the movie's heroes learn to work in better harmony), plus a fight with a gigantic tentacled beast recalling the opening of "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2." All the same, the movie looks pretty visually faithful to the "Borderlands" video games, even while playing as "Guardians" lite by way of "Fallout."
Roth, who was on hand for the event, similarly presented himself as a huge fan of the source material, stating he fought "tooth and nail" to get the directing job because he "always wanted to do a movie" that crossed the "fun" of "Star Wars" with "Mad Max." He also confessed to being shocked that Blanchett said yes to the movie as quickly as she did, despite having previously worked with her and Black on his spoopy horror-fantasy adventure "The House with a Clock in Its Walls."
"Borderlands" is set to hit theaters on August 9, 2024. You can check out the film's official synopsis below.
Lilith, an infamous bounty hunter with a mysterious past, reluctantly returns to her home, Pandora, the most chaotic planet in the galaxy. Her mission is to find the missing daughter of Atlas, the universe's most powerful S.O.B. Lilith forms an unexpected alliance with a ragtag team of misfits — Roland, a seasoned mercenary on a mission; Tiny Tina, a feral pre-teen demolitionist; Krieg, Tina's musclebound protector; Tannis, the oddball scientist who's seen it all; and Claptrap, a wiseass robot. Together, these unlikely heroes must battle an alien species and dangerous bandits to uncover one of Pandora's most explosive secrets. The fate of the universe could be in their hands — but they'll be fighting for something more: each other. Based on one of the best-selling videogame franchises of all time, welcome to Borderlands.