With its own high-octane brand of interstellar mayhem first seen in Marvel Studios’ “Guardians of the Galaxy” trilogy, Lionsgate is leaping into the sci-fi mosh pit with “Borderlands,” the first live-action adaptation of the best-selling post-apocalyptic looter shooter video game.
“Borderlands” is helmed by fright flick ace Eli Roth (“Hostel,” “Cabin Fever”) and showcases a berserk band of rowdy space pirates led by Cate Blanchett and Kevin Hart who are lured to a “dumpster fire of a world” named Pandora where a legendary lost treasure has been locked away in some hidden cave-like vault.
Also starring Jack Black, Edgar Ramírez, Ariana Greenblatt, Florian Munteanu, Gina Gershon, and Jamie Lee Curtis, “Borderlands” tumbles into theaters on Aug. 9, 2024.
Here’s the full synopsis:
“Lilith (Blanchett), an infamous bounty hunter with a mysterious past, reluctantly returns to her home, Pandora, the most chaotic planet in the galaxy. Her mission is to find the missing daughter of Atlas (Ramírez), the universe’s most powerful S.O.B. Lilith forms an unexpected alliance with a ragtag team of misfits – Roland (Hart), a seasoned mercenary on a mission; Tiny Tina (Greenblatt), a feral pre-teen demolitionist; Krieg (Munteanu), Tina’s musclebound protector; Tannis (Curtis), the oddball scientist who’s seen it all; and Claptrap (Black), a wiseass robot.
“Together, these unlikely heroes must battle an alien species and dangerous bandits to uncover one of Pandora’s most explosive secrets. The fate of the universe could be in their hands – but they’ll be fighting for something more: each other.”
This final trailer, cut to a cool reworking of ELO’s 1977 hit “Do Ya,” seems like a slaughterhouse of trashy summertime fun injected with intense splashes of psychedelic color, ugly tentacled alien monsters, a pile-up of armored wasteland vehicles, fabulous lost loot, swarms of planetary bandits, and gunfire galore.
“Borderlands” first arrived onto the gaming scene from Gearbox Software and 2K in 2009 for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 platforms. After a number of successful sequel releases and spinoff projects over the past 15 years, these Mature-themed sci-fi diversions have sold over 75 million copies.
Actually filmed three years ago from a script written by Eli Roth and Joe Crombie, “Borderlands” is produced by Avi Arad and Erik Feig, and executive produced by Tim Miller, Ethan Smith, Louise Rosner, Emmy Yu, Lucy Kitada, Christopher Woodrow, K. Blaine Johnston, Randy Pitchford, and Strauss Zelnick.
“Borderlands” arrives in theaters from Lionsgate on Aug. 9, 2024.
