Jack Black joins the cast of the Borderlands movie as sarcastic robot Claptrap. First released in 2009, the sci-fi Western themed first-person co-op shooter game has gone on to spawn multiple sequels and spinoffs, including 2019’s Borderlands 3. In total the Borderlands game series has sold over 68 million copies with revenues in excess of $1 billion.

After spawning comic book and novel adaptations, the highly successful Borderlands video game franchise will now become a film from Lionsgate with Eli Roth set to direct from a script by Craig Mazin. Much to the delight of fans, the adaptation will preserve the R-rated tone of the Borderlands games. Casting for the movie has been ongoing, with Cate Blanchett hopping aboard as the magical Lilith, Kevin Hart as the stoic Roland (it’s a little hard to imagine the hyperactive Hart playing stoic) and most recently Jamie Lee Curtis as the erratic Tannis.

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That already strong cast indeed continues to grow as Lionsgate reveals that Black will jump aboard the film to voice the role of Claptrap, who’s described as “a persistently sarcastic robot that isn’t all that invested in the survival of his teammates.” Claptrap has appeared in all incarnations of the Borderlands series, and is considered the games’ mascot.

Black of course knows all about working with director Roth as the two collaborated on the hit film The House with a Clock in Its Walls, which also starred Blanchett. Roth says of re-teaming with Black “I am so excited to reunite with Jack, this time in the recording booth. Claptrap is the funniest character in the game, and Jack is perfect to bring him to the big screen.” Black also has a connection to Borderlands co-star Hart as they appeared together in both of the new Jumanji films. Black’s list of upcoming projects is rather meager, perhaps due to COVID-imposed inactivity, but he is set to do voice work in Richard Linklater’s animated film Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Adventure. The actor of course has done more than his fair share of voice work over the years, and is best-known in that arena for performing the lead character of Po in the Kung Fu Panda films.

Black indeed sounds like the perfect actor to voice “a persistently sarcastic robot,” as he’s one of the most expert comedic performers around, either in live-action or as a vocal performer (or randomly recreating moments from Thor on Instagram). It remains to be seen of course what Roth will ultimately do with Borderlands, and whether the movie he creates will satisfy the video games’ millions of fans. But there’s no question the cast is coming together nicely with Black arriving to provide comic relief alongside the likes of Blanchett, Hart and Curtis.

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Source: Lionsgate