Borderlands’cinematic debut was memorable for all the wrong reasons, but the franchise has one other possible live-action adaptation that would be much better than the 2024 film. After almost a decade of development,Borderlandsfinally arrived in theaters, but the film completely missed the mark. Alongside its box office struggles,Borderlandsbroke several unwanted Rotten Tomatoes records, having scored just 10% among critics, cementing the film’s status as a flop. Some of the casting and story decisions felt bizarre, while the project also failed to honor its source material, leading to its underwhelming reception.
As a result,Borderlandsended its theatrical run after just one month, which all but killed the franchise’s chance at a cinematic future. However, despite the movie’s problems,Borderlandsshouldn’t give up on a live-action universe, as the series has so much potential and aBorderlandssequel could make big changes while rebootingthe story. Starting from scratch looks like it would be the best move forward, and thankfully,the franchise already has the perfect live-action adaptation that would help people forget about the 2024 movie and allowBorderlandsto reach its true live-action potential.
A Tales From The Borderlands Adaptation Would Be Completely Different From 2024’s Borderlands
The Change Of Cast & Story Would Be Refreshing After Borderlands' Disappointing Cinematic Debut
AdaptingTales from the Borderlandswould be a fun new direction for the franchise to go when it comes to live-action, as it would be completely different from the 2024 film. Eli Roth’s movie tried to capture the humor, mayhem, and large-scale storytelling of the mainBorderlandsgames, butTales from the Borderlandswas a lot more self-contained. While it still included a handful of major characters, the game’s protagonists and central cast were completely new additions. Therefore, a live-action version of this story would be a breath of fresh air and a second chance to win over fans.
Borderlands’ Movie Disappointment Hurts Even More After This Major Franchise Announcement
With the Borderlands movie failing to impress critically, its disappointment seems even worse after the franchise’s latest new announcement.
Whereas 2024’sBorderlandstried to copyGuardians of the Galaxy’squirky team of misfits on a world-saving adventure,Tales from the Borderlands' story starts with relatively low stakes, and grows larger due to the protagonists' mistakes and incompetence. The game is much more character-driven than the mainBorderlandsseries and the 2024 movie, meaning its charm and humor really stand out. Opting to adapt this story and move away from some of the franchise’s bigger names would show thatBorderlandscan provide a strong live-action narrative, which would hopefully revive its chances of a cinematic universe.
Tales From The Borderlands Would Be A More Faithful Adaptation
A Live-Action Tales From The Borderlands Project Could Directly Follow The Game’s Story
Tales from the Borderlandsoffers the franchise a chance to produce a more faithful adaptation after the 2024 movie’s struggles.Borderlandsmade some classic video game adaptation mistakesby changing characters' origin stories and coming up with a completely new plot that failed to honor the source material. The likes ofThe Super Mario Bros. MovieandSonic the Hedgehoghave proven video game movies can make new stories work, but they didn’t tamper with the lore of the gaming series, which is whereBorderlandswent wrong. Thankfully,Tales from the Borderlandsshould comfortably avoid this problem.
Borderlands' 2024 movie crashed and burned trying to come up with a new story while using established characters, butTales from the Borderlandscould pull off a much more faithful adaptation.
A live-action version ofTales from the Borderlandswould almost certainly just follow the plot of the game, making it easy to avoid some simple mistakes. Although it would have to drop its decision-making elements, the project could focus on introducing its characters using the set-up provided by the game, before developing the fun and entertaining story into live-action.Borderlands' 2024 movie crashed and burned trying to come up with a new story while using established characters, butTales from the Borderlandscould pull off a much more faithful adaptation, all but guaranteeing a more successful final product.
A Live-Action Tales From The Borderlands Project Would Be Better Suited To A TV Format
The Game’s Episodic Format Would Make For A Perfect Televised Adaptation
While the franchise couldn’t quite find success on the big screen, it’s possible it could thrive in the TV industry, whichTales from the Borderlandsis perfect for. The game was released episodically, meaning it had five chapters, all of which could be explored in an episode or two. Giving each chapter time to breathe and potentially even expanding on them to make the show unique would be better explored over the course of a season, rather than trying to cram it all into a three-hour movie. It would also give more time for audiences to learn about each character.
Borderlandsis currently available on digital.
TV shows likeFallout,The Last of Us, andArcaneare among some of the best-ever gaming adaptations, largely because of how well the TV format suits them. Video games are often far too long and filled with content to condense into a film format, and while this can still work,Tales from the Borderlands’narrative is much better suited to the smaller screen. Even if the franchise is persistent about making a theatrical universe work,havingTales from the Borderlandssucceed would make viewers more open to the idea of aBorderlandssequel or reboot, proving it should happen.
Borderlands
Based on the video game franchise, Borderlands is a sci-fi action-comedy film that follows Cate Blanchett as Lilith, a treasure hunter who returns to her home planet, Pandora, to find a tycoon’s missing daughter. Together with a group of unlikely allies, such as a soldier, a teenaged demolitions expert, a wise-cracking robot, and an eccentric scientist, the group will work together to save the girl - all while learning to deal with each other’s unyielding quirks.
