Ready to visit the “Borderlands?”
The new movie, based on the bestselling video game series and starring Cate Blanchett and Kevin Hart, hits theaters this summer. But the first trailer features all the murder and mayhem you could ask for, and you can watch it above.
In “Borderlands,” Blanchett plays a notorious thief named Lilith, who returns to her scummy home planet to rescue the daughter of a warlord named Atlas (Edgar Ramirez). She teams up with a mercenary (Hart), a young demolitionist (Ariana Greenblatt), a hulk (Florian Munteanu), a scientist (Jamie Lee Curtis) and a chatty robot (voiced by Jack Black). Together, this band of misfits might end up saving the entire planet.
The trailer has a fun, “Guardians of the Galaxy”-ish vibe, with a starry cast (that also includes Haley Bennett, Bobby Lee, Gina Gershon, Janina Gavankar and Penn Jillette) and all sorts of crazy scenarios. Videogame-based movies are clearly getting better, with recent hits like “Uncharted,” “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” (which also co-starred Black) and “Gran Turismo,” along with small screen adaptations like “The Last of Us” and the upcoming “Fallout.” And “Borderlands” looks to be similarly enjoyable – less like watching somebody else play the game and more like playing it yourself.
Development on a “Borderlands” movie began almost a decade ago, but coalesced in 2020, with “Hostel” filmmaker Eli Roth signing on to co-write and direct. The film shot in 2021 in Hungary and with additional photography handled by “Deadpool” director Tim Miller in 2023.
The “Borderlands” franchise began in 2009 and became an instant favorite, spawning several sequels and spin-offs and cornering the market on the “looter shooter” genre, which encourages madcap multiplayer mode.
“Borderlands” opens from Lionsgate on Aug. 9.
