Gearbox Drops Exciting Borderlands Movie News Using Claptrap
Given the spotty history of video game movie adaptations to date (in fact, Looper even ran a survey about the worst ones), it's probably no surprise that whenever a new movie based on a game is announced, fans usually respond with a mixture of excitement and trepidation. Since 2009, "Borderlands" has been one of the most popular video game franchises, with its unique combination of genres — as a loot-based space western shooter with RPG elements — earning more than $1 billion. So, when the "Borderlands" movie was first announced as being developed by Lionsgate back in 2015 (via Variety), the stakes couldn't have been higher.
It's been a long time since then, but ever since, a steady trickle of news about the "Borderlands" movie has resulted in fans feeling more optimistic. For one, the film's plot seems that it will appropriately honor the spirit of the original games, as it will follow the outlaw Lilith organizing a ragtag bunch of misfits to rescue a missing girl from the sinister Atlas Corporation. The film's cast also has fans happy. Along with Cate Blanchett, who will be playing Lilith, the "Borderlands" movie features Kevin Hart as Roland, Jack Black as Claptrap, Jamie Lee Curtis as Dr. Tanis, Ariana Greenblatt as Tiny Tina, and Florian Munteanu as Krieg.
And now, the developer behind the "Borderlands" video games, Gearbox, just tweeted another big announcement about the status of the production that should amp up the excitement of fans even more.
The Borderlands movie just took a major step closer to becoming a reality
Get ready: on June 22, 2021, the official Gearbox Twitter account announced that the "Borderlands" movie had finished filming.
Even better, accompanying the announcement was a photo of the Claptrap puppet holding a movie clapboard. The announcement comes almost three months after filming began on April 5 in Hungary (via Production List).
Unfortunately, the "Borderlands" movie still doesn't have a confirmed release date, so how much longer the wait will be is currently unknown. At this point, IMDb has the "Borderlands" movie listed as a 2022 film. Since it usually takes about a year from the end of filming for a movie to premiere, we feel confident putting the release date in mid-2022, particularly now that Hollywood has largely returned to a more normal production schedule following the prior interruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Until 2022, then, Gearbox and the film's distributor, Lionsgate, will most likely keep teasing the movie like they already have been: for instance, earlier this month, Jamie Lee Curtis shared first-look photos of the "Borderlands" cast, but only as silhouettes. Seeing Claptrap in the flesh (er, metal) is already an improvement on that reveal. And now that filming is finished, the teaser trailer should be just around the corner. Stay tuned for more updates.