Borderlands director says he "could write a book" on his experience making the critically-panned video game movie

Borderlands
(Image credit: Lionsgate)

Borderlands director Eli Roth has shared a cryptic reflection on making the movie.

The video game adaptation bombed at the box office and received a frosty reaction from critics, too, with our own Borderlands review awarding the movie just 2 stars.

"That was a whole other story," Roth told IndieWire of the movie. "Making that in COVID was like… I could write a book on that."

He didn't elaborate any further on his thoughts, but, from just these few words, it seems the process wasn't all that smooth.

But, he did share his appreciation for horror movies. "I said, 'If I’m going to make a return to horror, then it's got to be with something that makes me hungry to do it again,'" he commented. "Now, I pretty much just want to do horror all the time… I could actually do horror movies for every holiday. I would just do them for the year. If someone was like, 'For the rest of your life, all you're allowed to do is holiday horror movies'? I'd go, 'Great!' and fill the calendar."

Roth isn't the only person who has indicated that Borderlands was a bumpy ride. "On Borderlands, nearly everything that could go wrong did go wrong: it sat on the shelf for too long during the pandemic, and reshoots and rising interest rates took it outside the safety zone of our usual strict financial models," Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer said of the movie last month.

While you wait for Roth's next movie, check out our guide to all the most exciting upcoming movies left in 2024 and beyond.

Molly Edwards
Senior Entertainment Writer

I'm a Senior Entertainment Writer here at 12DOVE, covering all things film and TV for the site's Total Film and SFX sections. I previously worked on the Disney magazines team at Immediate Media, and also wrote on the CBeebies, MEGA!, and Star Wars Galaxy titles after graduating with a BA in English. 

Read more
Borderlands 4 Vault Hunters
Borderlands boss Randy Pitchford hyped up the Borderlands 4 trailer as much as he could, but series fans feel burned by "bland" Vault Hunters: "They look so generic"
Anya Taylor-Joy and Miles Teller as Drasa and Levi in The Gorge
Sinister director says his new horror film The Gorge is partly inspired by Silent Hill and Until Dawn: "I love those games"
One of the new Vault Hunters in Borderlands 4
"Don’t gaslight me": Borderlands 4 CEO Randy Pitchford begs fans to be optimistic about the upcoming FPS, otherwise "we'll all pay the price"
Borderlands
Borderlands, Madame Web, and Lady Gaga up for anti-Oscars as the Razzie Awards announces its 2025 nominations
Adar in The Rings of Power season 2 episode 7
The Silent Hill 2 Remake director has pitched a Lord of the Rings horror game, and suddenly I'm hunched over growling 'my precious' at the thought of it
A screenshot of the upcoming PC game, Borderlands 4.
Borderlands 4's tone sits somewhere between the first two games, which probably means less Skibidi Toilet and more Handsome Jack-style antics
Latest in Sci-Fi Movies
Millie Bobby Brown, Chris Pratt, and Ke Huy Quan in The Electric State
$320 million in the hole, the Russo brothers' new Netflix movie debuts to their worst Rotten Tomatoes score even though it's one of the most expensive films ever made
Zoe Saldaña in Avatar
James Cameron had "too many great ideas" for Avatar: The Way of Water, so the cut content became Avatar 3 which "will actually be a little bit longer" than its 3-hour predecessor
Robert Pattinson in Mickey 17
Director Bong Joon Ho explains his new sci-fi film Mickey 17's surprise end title card: "It's a coming-of-age-story"
Claire Danes as Juliet and Miriam Margolyes as Nurse in the movie Romeo + Juliet.
The 33 greatest movies based on Shakespeare
Mark Ruffalo and Toni Collette in Mickey 17
Although the Mickey 17 cast were at first baffled by the unique way Parasite director Bong Joon Ho works, now they want it no other way
Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt in The Electric State
The Electric State review: "Although this may be their most visually stunning movie yet, it looks like the Russos are yet to find their footing outside of the MCU"
Latest in News
Daredevil recap: The Defenders
Marvel fans are discussing which of the Netflix series characters would have survived the Blip
A misty, forested mountainside in Prologue: Go Wayback!
PUBG creator's wilderness survival game actually draws inspiration from an unexpected place - a whole raft of zombie games like DayZ, Project Zomboid, and Left 4 Dead
The Blood of Dawnwalker: A screenshot of the vampire Brencis holding up a crown during the trailer for the upcoming game.
The Witcher 3 devs created a Jekyll & Hyde-style character for their new vampire RPG "because nobody yet has done that"
Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock in Daredevil: Born Again
Daredevil fans are wondering if Born Again season 2 will set up a darker comic book arc for Matt Murdock
Theo James as Hal in Osgood Perkins' The Monkey
It might only be March, but Stephen King adaptation The Monkey is now the highest grossing horror movie of 2025
Balatro screenshot showing an assortment of card packs
Balatro creator initially considered a Steam release in part to help "get a game developer job somewhere," and after 5 million sales I'd say he found one