Borderlands Movie Finds its Director in Eli Roth

Borderlands, the hilariously ultra-violent FPS from Gearbox, is getting a movie adaptation. Actually, Lionsgate announced the film way back in 2015. But now, we officially have a director attached. Eli Roth will helm the production.

The news came a bit prematurely. Gearbox founder Randy Pitchford tweeted out the news yesterday before quickly deleting it. This implies a more official announcement was scheduled before Pitchford broke the news. Now, Deadline reports that it’s true.

The Borderlands games take place on the planet Pandora. Each game follows 4 distinct heroes in search of an alien vault said to house powerful technology. Unfortunately for them, Pandora is home to dangerous wildlife, kill-happy bandits, and one or two megalomaniacs. The games are over-the-top in every aspect, from their humor to their violent content. The franchise’s most recent entry, Borderlands 3, was released in September of last year.

The Vault Hunters of Borderlands 3

I’m so excited to dive into the world of Borderlands and I could not be doing it with a better script, producing team, and studio. I have a long, successful history with Lionsgate – I feel like we have grown up together and that everything in my directing career has led to a project of this scale and ambition. I look forward to bringing my own energy, ideas, and vision to the wild, fun, and endlessly creative world of the game. Randy Pitchford and everyone at Gearbox have been incredibly supportive of my ideas – it really feels like a perfect storm of creators coming together.  We are out to make a new classic, one which the fans of the game will love, but also one which will find new audiences globally.”

Eli Roth’s directing credentials include Cabin Fever, Hostel, and The House with a Clock in Its Walls. Craig Mazin, fresh off two Emmy wins for last year’s Chernobyl wrote the latest draft of the screenplay. Pitchford and Strauss Zelnik, CEO of publisher Take-Two Interactive, are executive producing. Video game movies are notoriously difficult to make. Let’s hope this partnership leads to a great movie.