Borderlands: Jamie Lee Curtis joins Blanchett, Hart for Eli Roth adaptation

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Two-time Golden Globe winner Jamie Lee Curtis will catch a ride with Cate Blanchett and Kevin Hart in director Eli Roth’s adaptation of the bestselling videogame Borderlands for Lionsgate. Curtis will play Tannis, an archeologist on Pandora who might have the key to finding the vault, but whose complicated history with Lilith (Blanchett) isn’t going to help.

"Working with the iconic Jamie Lee Curtis has been a life long dream of mine, and I am so excited for her to bring her humor, warmth, and brilliance to the role of Tannis," said Roth.

“The kind of talent we’ve been able to bring together for Borderlands is a testament to the incredible script that Craig wrote and Eli's vision for Pandora," said Nathan Kahane, president of the Lionsgate Motion Picture Group. "Jamie is unique in that her characters have depth and gravitas, but are also always hugely entertaining – she commands the screen. At this point, Jamie is like family to us – after bringing so much to Knives Out and hosting last summer’s Lionsgate Live fundraiser to help theater workers, we could not be more thrilled to be working with her again.”

Eli Roth is directing Borderlands from a script by Emmy-winning Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin. The film also stars Cate Blanchett as Lilith and Kevin Hart as Roland. As a "Siren" of the Borderlands, Lilith comes equipped with a silver tongue, an attitude to match, and a longing to blow holes in the faces of every enemy she encounters. She also uses her superhuman powers to gain an edge over those who stand in her way. In other words, step aside. Meanwhile, Hart will play Roland, a Soldier class character who originally hails from the planet Promethea and is a former soldier of the Crimson Lance, the highly trained private military of the Atlas corporation.

Based on the best-selling PC and console gaming experience from developer Gearbox Software and publisher 2K, a wholly owned label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc., "Borderlands” has sold more than 66 million units sold worldwide, including over 24 million units of “Borderlands 2,” which is the highest-selling title in the history of 2K. The most recent installment, “Borderlands 3,” which launched in September 2019 and was recently released for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, has sold-in more than 11 million units worldwide and was honored with the award for Best Multiplayer Game at Gamescom 2019 and Best Ongoing Game at Gamescom 2020.

I'll be the first to admit that I still have my doubts about adapting Borderlands for the silver screen, but the casting announcements have me intrigued. Landing Blanchett, Hart, and now Jamie Lee Curtis for your movie is a series of power moves, which has me thinking that Roth is playing with a full deck for this one. While that's all well and good, the biggest hurdle this movie has is its script. Borderlands games are notoriously obnoxious in the dialogue department, so let's hope that Mazin is feeling spicy while penning this project. Lastly, I'm still waiting on castings for characters like Handsome Jack, Ellie, and Tiny Tina. Let's get to it Lionsgate!