Lionsgate has been trying to get a Borderlands movie off the ground since 2015, with Eli Roth becoming attached to the project in 2020. After a longer-than-expected wait and a series of reshoots with Tim Miller at the helm, the movie is a real thing, and it’s coming in August. The first trailer, however, is here now:
The Borderlands games concern a rotating quartet of Vault Hunters who show up on the planet Pandora looking to find a legendary Vault (and shoot various bandits and robots in the face). The film features several characters from the first two games, but puts them in a very non-game setup: Cate Blanchett’s Lilith has powerful Siren abilities and returns to Pandora to rescue the daughter of Edgar Ramírez’s Atlas. She hates to be there, but it’s not long before she’s joined by soldier Roland (Kevin Hart), mad scientist Tannis (Jamie Lee Curtis), bruiser Kreig (Florian Munteau), and demolitions expert Tiny Tina (Ariana Greenblatt). The group will (presumably) proceed to find every bandit or robot they can and shoot them in the face with a variety of guns. Oh, and Claptrap (Jack Black) is there too.
Gearbox’s games are known for having a colorful (and chatty) cast of characters, and the trailer largely delivers on that front. It’s very unashamedly goofy similar to how the games often are, but it’s missing something: a ridiculous arsenal of guns! We do see some weapons, but it’s one of the signatures of the series, and it feels wrong to not see it fully depicted here. Maybe they’re saving that for the second trailer, along with the cast spending two minutes sorting through a bad UI to swap out their gear.
Speaking of that cast, new character posters dropped along with the trailer. Feast your eyes!
Jack Black as Claptrap
Cate Blanchett as Lilith
Florian Munteanu as Krieg
Kevin Hart as Roland
Ariana Greenblatt as Tiny Tina
Jamie Lee Curtis as Tannis
Borderlands will make its way to theaters on August 9.
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