Get ready for the BCU. According to Gearbox founder and CEO Randy Pitchford, the Borderlands movie is the first entry in the "Borderlands Cinematic Universe."
In an interview with IGN, Pitchford said, "One of the cool things about the movie is we've created a cinematic universe that lives side by side with the video game universe. And of course, the characters are there and authentic in the themes and even some of the storylines. But they're independent storylines."
"So this isn't Borderlands 1. This isn't Borderlands 2. The Borderlands movie is the first of the Borderlands Cinematic Universe," Pitchford declared.
- Toilet humor, open-worlds, and "billions" of weapons: Borderlands 4 is pushing the looter-shooter series further than ever before
- Borderlands 4's reveal this week includes "a lot of in-game footage" and "a sick, never-before-seen original cinematic sequence" that'll bridge the gap between Borderlands 3
"And you'll see some characters from some of the different parts of what you might know from the video games. But it also gives us an opportunity to get deeper and expand a little bit."
While there’s a chance that Pitchford may have jumped the gun a little here, it sure sounds like there are plans for multiple Borderlands projects moving forward.
If so, that will join the likes of the Marvel cinematic universe, the new DCU, the bizarre G.I. Joe setup in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, and an upcoming Star Wars ‘Mando-verse’ movie as prominent examples of cinematic universes continuing to dominate the pop culture landscape.
For now, let’s focus on the first Borderlands movie. The upcoming release sees Cate Blanchett’s Lilith return to her home planet of Pandora to find the daughter of Atlas (Edgar Ramirez). To help with her deadly mission, Lilith enlists the help of soldier Roland (Kevin Hart), wisecracking robot Claptrap (voiced by Jack Black), Doctor Tannis (Jamie Lee Curtis), explosives expert Tiny Tina (Ariana Greenblatt), and Tina’s protector Krieg (Florian Munteanu).
Early indications are that Borderlands is going to stick closely to Gearbox’s madcap series of looter shooters. The first look featured a pitch-perfect Cate Blanchett as Lilith, while the Borderlands trailer established the series’ anarchic tone in fine style.
The Eli Roth-directed Borderlands is set for release on August 9, 2024. For more, check out the other upcoming video game movies in the pipeline.
