Borderlands, the popular action video game franchise, is coming to the big screen thanks to Lionsgate Films.
The action RPG shooter franchise from developer Gearbox Software and publisher 2K will join the other video game properties such as Mortal Kombat, The Angry Birds Movie, Pokemon: Detective Pikachu and Sonic the Hedgehog that have been adapted to the movie format.
The film will be executive produced by Randy Pitchford and Strauss Zelnick with Emmy-winning screenwriter Craig Mazin penning the script for the project. The film version of the game will be produced by Avi and Ari Arad through their Arad Productions banner with Erik Feig, who oversaw development, through Picturestart.
Eli Roth, whose recent movie credits include The House with a Clock in Its Walls (Amblin), Death Wish (MGM and Annapurna Pictures), directed Cabin Fever and Knock Knock for Lionsgate Films.
In a statement to the Hollywood Reporter, Roth said:
“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.”
In a separate statement, Nathan Kahane, the president of the Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, said:
“With Eli’s vision and Craig’s screenplay, we believe we have cracked the code on bringing the anarchic world of Borderlands to the big screen in a big way that will be a fresh, compelling and cinematic event for moviegoers and fans of the game.”
No release date for the film has been announced. The most recent game release from Gearbox Software was Borderlands 3 in September 2019.