The Borderlands movie adaptation flopped at the box office and received scathing reviews, but Randy Pitchford explains that things could have been even worse — and he hasn't lost hope.
The film "Borderlands," based on the video game series of the same name, became one of the biggest failures of 2024. With a production budget of $115 million and an additional $30 million for marketing and distribution, the film grossed only $33 million worldwide. Despite the participation of Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, and Jack Black, as well as the direction of Eli Roth, the adaptation was met with extreme indifference by the public.
Gearbox co-founder Randy Pitchford sees the situation as an opportunity for self-deprecation — and cautious optimism. "If I had made that movie, it would have been much worse," he said in an interview with TheGamer at Gamescom. Pitchford emphasized that he does not aspire to be a director and fully trusts Roth, whom he called "a great filmmaker."
At the same time, he did not ignore the criticism of the film and compared Borderlands to the work of The Beatles: "They also had bad songs, but that's no reason to stop writing music." Pitchford has used a similar comparison before when games in the series were at the center of scandals, emphasizing the importance of experiments and bold decisions, even if the result provokes a mixed reaction.
Whether there will be a "Borderlands" sequel is still unknown. However, Pitchford has already hinted that the studio is ready to try again.
"My position is this: if there are great creators, artists, performers who have something to say, and they think they can only do it with Borderlands, and they can prove it, I want to help them. We don't always succeed, but we must keep moving forward."
Earlier, Eli Roth admitted that he "could write a book" about all the problems that led to the film's failure. Among the reasons, he cited the COVID-19 pandemic and work restrictions, which prevented him from participating in the final version of the film.
