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Borderlands Co-Creator Reacts to Movie's Failure Like THIS
Randy Pitchford, the CEO of Gearbox Software, the game's developer, took to social media to offer a somewhat cryptic response to Boderlands movie's critical drubbing.
The movie Borderlands, adapted from a video game series that used to be a godsend during its prime among gamers. Given the great expectations, the movie turns out to be hugely disappointing. Everything was looking bright and cheerful for the Borderlands movie. So long people who loved playing the series of games had waited for it to come alive on the big screen, and the hype over the release was humongous. It seems to be a flop since it started going to theaters.
Randy Pitchford's response and the future of the franchise
The failure of Borderlands can largely be explained by its disappointing box office performance and the unfavorable critical reception it is getting. Having hit theaters on August 9th, it has been able to raise only around $1.3 million in the first days of its release at the box office. Against the movie's quite substantial budget, which falls within the range of $110-120 million, this return is really far from being promising. Although there is still time for Borderlands to make some money, the outlook doesn't look very encouraging. Bad enough that it has become a financial bomb; to worsen the situation, results have been extremely negative throughout the reviews.
One of the video game series co-creators of Borderlands and the current CEO of the studio which developed the games, Gearbox Software, Randy Pitchford, has reacted to its film adaptation's failure. In a Twitter post over the weekend, Pitchford commented indirectly on the situation. He noted, "So what you're saying is: You like what my friends and I do with our Borderlands video games more than you like what some of the biggest and best cast and crew of filmmakers on the planet have done. I'm super flattered! We're working extra hard four you on what's next."
That statement alone suggests that Pitchford was still trying to spin the situation positively, which amounted to implying the love for the games remained, even if the movie fell short.
Pitchford himself, also an executive producer on the film, acknowledged the poor reception of the movie but instead turned his attention to the passion for the games. Pitchford was also not letting the film's cast go unmentioned, which had Oscar-winning talent like Cate Blanchett and Jamie Lee Curtis alongside established faces like Kevin Hart and Jack Black. Moreover, Pitchford recently posted a cryptic update that seemed to point toward some future project—in particular, the long-rumored Borderlands 4 video game—which indicates there's still a bright future for the franchise ahead, even in view of the movie's failure.
What has transpired with the Borderlands movie, after spending nearly a decade in development hell, is, thankfully, a giant misstep. Eli Roth's take on the beloved source material has missed its mark with critics and audiences alike, becoming arguably the most colossal box office flop of 2024 so far.
Randy Pitchford firmly believes Borderlands is not suited for anime format
For quite a long period of time, there have been speculations about an animated series based on the game Borderlands; Randy Pitchford has finally broken his silence on the matter. Pitchford said that while he believes an animated movie or show based on Borderlands would go well, he does not think it would be any good if done as an anime. He claimed that this particular style of the series doesn't help create this kind of genre.
Pitchford himself actually went on record, well before the live-action film's release, as being against a Borderlands anime. A fan asked him about the concept, and he replied with, "Borderlands anime? Are you on drugs? That sounds like a terrible idea." He basically insinuated that anime, with its style and so forth, is the wrong medium through which to translate what makes the Borderlands universe special.
Since the release of the Borderlands movie, Pitchford himself appears to have not stopped being very present in the fanbase, taking most of the flak regarding the overwhelmingly negative reception the film received. Continuing to defend his baby, he's been pretty active. One of the biggest discussions concerning this reception revived an older question: would Borderlands actually work better in an animated rather than live-action setting?. However, Pitchford has said again what he previously stated: while an animated adaptation would work, it shouldn't be confused for anime. He said, "I think an animated Borderlands would be cool, but I don't parse that the same as anime. I think anime is a very specific genre and I don't think Borderlands is well suited for it."
Although the idea of an animated adaptation of Borderlands is interesting in and of itself, the chances appear pretty slim for a release anytime soon. The live-action Borderlands movie opened to a terrible opening weekend, with $8.8 million at the United States box office—about eight percent of its $115 million budget. The figure does not even include extra costs associated with marketing and distribution that would further reduce the chances of a new adaptation in the works.
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