Based on one of the best-selling videogame franchises of all time, this action-adventure-comedy follows Lilith (Cate Blanchett), an infamous treasure hunter with a mysterious past, who reluctantly returns to her home planet of Pandora to find the missing daughter of Atlas (Edgar Ramírez), the universe’s most powerful S.O.B.
She forms an unexpected alliance with a ragtag team of misfits ― Roland (Kevin Hart), once a highly respected soldier, but now desperate for redemption; Tiny Tina (Ariana Greenblatt), a feral pre-teen demolitionist; Krieg (Florian Munteanu), Tina’s musclebound, rhetorically challenged protector; Dr. Tannis (Jamie Lee Curtis), the scientist who’s seen it all; and Claptrap (Jack Black), a persistently wiseass robot.
These unlikely heroes must battle alien monsters and dangerous bandits to find and protect the missing girl, who may hold the key to unimaginable power. The fate of the universe could be in their hands ― but they’ll be fighting for something more: each other.
Long before producing the film, Ari Arad, whose credits include the recent hit Uncharted, had enjoyed playing the game upon which it’s based, calling it “cool and weird, and one of the more exciting and emotional games I’ve experienced. The game is action-packed but there’s a sweetness to it, which I thought was unique.”
Another key figure in Tiny Tina’s life is her stalwart, hulking, and loyal bodyguard Krieg. “It’s a bizarre relationship,” says Roth, “because both Tiny Tina and Krieg have been discarded. They are two misfits who take care of one another; there’s love and acceptance between them, in a big brother-little sister type way. Tiny Tina can take care of Krieg when he needs it, and he can and will kill anyone to protect her. The film is very much about the family you choose; within that family you learn to sacrifice and that’s when you are at your strongest.”
“The difference between Krieg and all the other Psychos is the soft spot in his heart he has for Tiny Tina,” says Florian Munteanu, who is best known for portraying fearsome boxer Viktor Drago in Creed II and Creed III.
According to Roth, it’s a perfect fit between actor and role. “Florian grounds Krieg in a way I didn’t know was possible. He brings real humanity and multiple layers to a character that on the surface seems totally insane and savage.”
Principal photography took place in Budapest, where the BORDERLANDS art direction teams, led by production designer Andrew Menzies, constructed Pandora from Hungary’s unique geological features and from inside Budapest’s formidable sound stages.
There, they brought to life Pandora’s mix of the wild American West, humor, and an epic fantasy space adventure.
Budapest provided impressive otherworldly locations, heightened by director of photography Rogier Stoffers’s striking cinematography, including rock quarries, mines, and underground tunnels.
Production also took over the whole of Stern Studios. “I love that we got to invent everything,” comments Roth. “It’s a lawless world, where everyone is figuring out how to just survive.”
Award-winning filmmaker Eli Roth made his directorial debut in 2002 with the hugely successful film Cabin Fever, and his follow-up titles – Hostel, Hostel Part II, Knock Knock, and Death Wish – have earned him critical praise and a reputation as a true innovator in the horror space.
Prorom distributes Borderlands in Romania, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Bulgaria.
