The Borderlands movie had a budget of $120 million, not including all of the expensive marketing surrounding its 2024 summer blockbuster release. Despite a stacked cast that included Cate Blanchett and Kevin Hart, the movie immediately bombed at the box office, making back barely a quarter of its production cost. The video game adaptation was a chaotic mess that was a letdown to existing fans and exceptionally chaotic for average moviegoers. Director Eli Roth suggests it was the studio’s fault.
“As things grow bigger, studios just naturally become more risk averse,” Roth recently told Variety (via GameSpot). “My nature as a filmmaker is to do the thing that’s left of center, because that’s what has worked for me.” The writer and director of early-aughts horror movies like Cabin Fever and Hostel didn’t go into detail on which parts of his vision were hampered by Hollywood buzzkills, but did suggest that Borderlands aiming for a PG-13 rating turned out to be fatal.
“You got something that belonged to nobody,” Roth said. “It’s not a kids’ movie, but it’s trying to appeal to everybody. It’s for gamers, but it doesn’t have the violence the gamers want because it can’t be that extreme because it costs too much. You just wind up with a movie that’s neither fish nor fowl.”
Sure, I guess. The Borderlands video games are rated M (Mature 17+) by the ESRB for bloody animations and crass jokes, but they aren’t particularly known for that. The violence and gore are more cartoony than anything, with a cel-shaded art style that lends itself to comic book–style cuts that leave the more gruesome parts to the imagination.
Regardless, Roth went independent for his latest comedy slasher flick, Ice Cream Man. He originally said there would be no genAI in it, but has now claimed he misspoke. At least if that movie sucks, he won’t have anyone to blame but himself.