Borderlands Footage Reaction: Jack Black Is A Sassy Robot [CinemaCon 2022]
If you're a fan of horror movies, you probably feel conflicted about the works and legacy of Eli Roth. If you're a fan of video games, you probably feel conflicted about the works and legacy of all video game movies. Finally, those two unsettling works/legacies will be combined in one unholy union with Eli Roth's "Borderlands," based on the video game of the very same name (which you probably already knew).
The game, which was released by Gearbox in 2009 and spawned two sequels and a prequel, tells the story of a crew of "vault hunters" who travel to the alien planet of Pandora in an attempt to find a vault full of alien treasure (read: weapons) before any of the massive corporations floating around the universe, colonizing planets, can beat them to it. The first game is jam-packed with cool loot, space monsters, and a cast of characters filled with lovable scamps like the abundant Claptrap robots.
As for who will flesh out these scamps in Roth's adaptation, we're looking at a pretty stacked cast list, including Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ariana Greenblatt, Florian Munteanu, and (the voice of) Jack Black. Will it be good? Who knows! Will it be a lot? Probably! Either way, we've got all of the coverage you crave about Roth's descent into the world of video game adaptations straight from CinemaCon.
Does Cate Blanchett play video games?
The "Borderlands" footage came as part of a sizzle reel from Lionsgate, which also showcased footage from "The Hunger Games" prequel "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes" and the upcoming "Dirty Dancing" sequel. In the footage, we see Cate Blanchett as Lilith in a killer bright red wig, which seems worth the price of admission alone. Kevin Hart's character Roland says, "Nothing better than a little wham, bam, thank you, man." There's a robot (fans of the games will recognize as Claptrap) voiced by Jack Black, who says, "Whoopsie, you accidentally shot me in the face again."
And that's about all there was to see! It isn't much, just enough to give a little tease of the upcoming "Borderlands" movie, which looks like it will maintain the humorous tone of the game.
Looking for an official synopsis of this video game movie madness? Right this way:
Lilith (Blanchett), an infamous outlaw with a mysterious past, reluctantly returns to her home planet of Pandora to find the missing daughter of the universe's most powerful S.O.B., Atlas (Ramirez). Lilith forms an alliance with an unexpected team — Roland (Hart), a former elite mercenary, now desperate for redemption; Tiny Tina (Greenblatt), a feral pre-teen demolitionist; Krieg (Munteanu), Tina's musclebound, rhetorically challenged protector; Tannis (Curtis), the scientist with a tenuous grip on sanity; and Claptrap (Black), a persistently wiseass robot. These unlikely heroes must battle alien monsters and dangerous bandits to find and protect the missing girl, who may hold the key to unimaginable power. The fate of the universe could be in their hands — but they'll be fighting for something more: each other.
"Borderlands" loots its way into theaters sometime in 2022.