Kevin Hart shares a new Borderlands set photo and teases the film’s “insane” action. The original video game hit PCs and consoles in 2009 and went on to become a massive seller, spawning a franchise. Now the Western-styled science-fantasy vibes of Gearbox Software’s Borderlands are coming to movie screens with Eli Roth in the director’s chair.
Roth is indeed currently hard at work shooting Borderlands, with a cast that features Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett as the psychic outlaw Lilith and Hart as her partner Roland. The action-comedy also includes Jamie Lee Curtis as Dr. Patricia Tannis, Ariana Greenblatt as Tiny Tina, Florean Munteanu as Krieg, Edgar Ramirez as Atlas, Cheyenne Jackson as Jakobs, Janina Gavankar as Commander Knoxx and Gina Gershon as Mad Moxxi. Haley Bennett was also recently added to the cast as a new non-video game character who has some connection to Blanchett’s Lilith. And perhaps most importantly, Jack Black is on board to voice Claptrap, the boastful robot who has become the Borderlands series’ mascot.
Fans are certainly eager to see if Black and company are able to capture the spirit of the original Borderlands games for their movie adaptation. According to Black’s co-star Hart, the movie definitely sports some insane action, which is certainly in keeping with the source material. Hart teased the movie’s action while posting a new behind-the-scenes Borderlands image, which can be seen in the space below:
Insane action is certainly what fans are expecting from Borderlands given the shoot-em-up nature of the original game, not to mention Roth’s own reputation for bringing massive carnage to the screen. However, fans absolutely should not expect Roth’s movie to remain fully faithful to the games when it comes to story. Gearbox Software president Randy Pitchford recently said that the movie does not actually take place in the same universe as the games, an approach that frees the movie up to tell its own stories. However, Pitchford assured fans that the film will remain “authentic to characters, tone and style.”
Adapting video games like Borderlands to the big screen is of course always tricky. Fans certainly have very specific expectations for how their favorite games should translate to the medium of film, and are often disappointed when these expectations are not met. General audiences at the same time can easily become confused when movie adaptations do not make the games’ worlds accessible for those who lack deep knowledge of the source material. So finding a balance between staying faithful to the games and making their worlds make sense to non-fans is always the dilemma. Borderlands may however be a more natural title to adapt than some, as its world is already inherently cinematic, drawing from genres that have long been popular with moviegoers. It will be fascinating to see if Roth and company have indeed cracked the code, or if Borderlands winds up joining the very long and notorious list of failed video game adaptations.
Source: Kevin Hart/Instagram