Florian Munteanu, known for playing Viktor Drago in Creed 2, has been chosen to play Krieg in the upcoming Borderlands adaptation, the musclebound and verbally-challenged protector of Tiny Tina. A first-person shooter saga unfolding in a space western science fantasy setting, Borderlands has emerged as one of the most popular video game franchises of all time. Since the release of its first installment in 2009, more than 68 million units of the games have been sold worldwide. Given that kind of success, there has been a lot of anticipation about what a film version would look like.
So far, Borderlands director Eli Roth and Chernobyl’s Craig Mazin, who wrote the latest version of the script, have kept plot details under wraps. But casting announcements have been steadily trickling out. Most recently, it was revealed that Love and Monsters actress Ariana Greenblatt will portray the teenaged explosives expert Tiny Tina. Now, we’re getting news of which actor will be sharing the screen with Greenblatt.
Lionsgate has announced that Florian Munteanu is in final talks to join the cast of Borderlands in the role of Krieg. Along with his role as Viktor Drago in the Creed sequel, helped by that Munteanu is a former heavyweight boxer, he’ll also be seen in the upcoming Marvel film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings as Razor Fist. Commenting on the casting in a statement, Roth praised Munteanu and noted that that the actor brought a lot of grounding and life to a character that initially seems insane.
Krieg’s backstory in the games hint at some of the difficulty involved. The character was born into a family of bandits and endured abuse from his mother. Like many other bandits, Krieg suffered through horrible experiments by Hyperion’s forces, which led to the deterioration of Krieg’s psyche. Eventually, a fractured remnant of that deteriorated psyche manifests itself as an inner voice that helps Krieg survive. However, by that point, as the result of the horrific tests and all his trauma, Krieg is unable to communicate properly. Still, over the course of his appearances, he manages to befriend Tiny Tina.
It’s obvious that Munteanu has the physical build and general demeanor to play Krieg. While the character’s complicated history illustrates some of the challenges and potential pratfalls of bringing Borderlands to the big screen, it also points to the excitement of seeing relative newcomers like Greenblatt and Munteanu mix it up with veterans like Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Jack Black, all of whom will be playing outlandish parts in Borderlands.
Source: Lionsgate