Cate Blanchett in talks to star in the Borderlands movie

Things can take a long time in the movie business. Deals get struck and projects are announced and then… radio silence for years. Case in point: the Borderlands movie.

Lionsgate first announced it was developing a feature based on Gearbox’s beloved looter shooter franchise four and a half years ago, with the father-son super duo of Avi and Ari Arad on board as producers. Then sitting at a total of four titles, not including mobile games, the franchise has since seen the release of The Handsome Collection – which bundled Borderlands 1, 2, and the Pre-Sequel into one package in all their remastered glory – as well as its next numbered sequel in the latter half of 2019.

Cut to two and a half months ago, and Gearbox CEO and amateur magician Randy Pitchford pulled a rabbit out of his hat when he surprisingly announced on Twitter that Eli Roth (Hostel, Death Wish) was on-board to direct the long-gestating Borderlands feature. Realising he’d spilled the beans he then unsuccessfully attempted to make the tweet disappear, but he’s no David Copperfield.

This brings us all to now, and a very surprising potential casting announcement. Variety are reporting that Cate Blanchett – yes, the two-time Oscar-winning actress Cate Blanchett – is in talks to star in the feature, reuniting her with her The House with a Clock in Its Walls director. Even more surprising to me is that she’s up for the role of Lilith, the phase-walking Siren who was one of the four main playable characters in the first game before moving on to a supporting role in the others.

I’ve always thought that the Borderlands franchise had a far better story – at least as far as 1 and 2 go since I haven’t played The Pre-Sequel or 3 – than its been given credit for, especially if you hunt down and pay attention to the audio logs. That, combined with finding out that an actress of Blanchett’s calibre is being sought for the feature adaption, seems like really good news to me and a sure indication that they’re taking this project seriously.

Last Updated: May 6, 2020