Making films based on video games is often a career death wish for filmmakers, so what better director to tackle a live action adaptation of 2K Games’ loot-shooter series Borderlands than Death Wish director Eli Roth?
As reported by Deadline, Roth will direct the adaptation for Lionsgate with production set to start later in the year. The director has proven quite adept at portraying on-screen torture in the past, making him an ideal choice to recreate Borderlands’ unbearable comedy stylings.
A first draft has already been turned in by Craig Mazin (Chernobyl), with Erik Feig (I Know What You Did Last Summer), Avi Arad and Ari Arad (Iron Man) on producing duties alongside Gearbox Interactive founder Randy Pitchford and Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick as executive producers.
“I’m so excited to dive into the world of Borderlands and I could not be doing it with a better script, producing team, and studio,” said Roth of the project, further stating that “Randy Pitchford and everyone at Gearbox have been incredibly supportive of my ideas – it really feels like a perfect storm of creators coming together.”
While Roth is best known for his gruesome work in the horror genre, including such splatterriffic fare as Cabin Fever and Hostel, the director has branched out in recent years, directing the aforementioned Bruce Willis actioner Death Wish and the fantastical family film The House with a Clock in Its Walls.
Now, if Roth decides to throw a little Hostel-style torture towards the game’s deservedly-maligned robot sidekick Claptrap, we won’t hold it against him…