Reviews for Borderlands hit the internet today and, well, it's not looking good for the movie adaptation. When the embargo lifted, Borderlands initially sat at a 0% score on Rotten Tomatoes with 10 verdicts.
Since then, dozens more have come in, but the score hasn't changed much. As of this writing, 47 reviews are now in and the film's score improved ever so slightly. It now sits at 6% on the review aggregator website.
"Glitching out in every department, Borderlands is balderdash," the critics consensus reads.
Now poor reviews don't necessarily always mean a poor box office performance, but right now all signs are pointing to Borderlands being a flop. It just so happens that reviews came out on the same day that Take-Two reported its Q1 earnings, which gave CEO Strauss Zelnick a chance to respond to the critical reception.
"Let's give the film a chance," Zelnick urged moviegoers and fans. "A lot of people worked really hard on it. The underlying intellectual property is phenomenal, the cast is amazing, I think the look and feel is really terrific. So let's see what audiences have to say."
Borderlands is one of the most popular and beloved video game franchises with a passionate fanbase. It's possible that despite the reviews, they could still have enough interest in the franchise to see what a live-action movie adaptation looks like.
The Borderlands video game franchise is created and owned by Gearbox, which was just acquired by Take-Two. Take-Two, through its 2K label, is one of the companies producing the film, along with Gearbox. Zelnick was also asked if the film's box office success or failure would impact the company's earnings in any meaningful way. The simple answer, according to Zelnick, is no.
But to answer your question, no, the performance of the film wouldn't have a financial impact on us or on the franchise one way or another."
Speaking to IGN, Zelnick reiterated that the company is "really selective" about which games it turns into movies. He explained that since the economic impact of licensing a video game IP into a movie is so small, there's really no reason to do it unless the creative teams involved are really excited. He maintains that Take-Two will remain selective in adapting its IP into films.
It's worth noting, however, that Take-Two currently has another movie in production based on another beloved IP from the publisher: a BioShock film at Netflix. The adaptation was first announced back in February 2022 but there hasn't seemed to be much progress made since. It was recently revealed that the adaptation has gone from a "grander, big project" to something "more personal" thanks to Netflix's more conservative movie strategy, which involves lower budges.
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. Based on one of the best-selling videogame franchises of all time, welcome to BORDERLANDS.
Borderlands releases in theaters on Friday, August 9, 2024. Will you be seeing it?