‘Borderlands’ Trailer: Cate Blanchett Is a Campy Vigilante in Eli Roth’s Video-Game Adaptation

Samantha Bergeson
·3 min read
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Cate Blanchett is back in a wig and a franchise, following her iconic “Thor: Ragnarok” campiness. The Oscar winner and “Tár” lead actress transforms into vigilante Lilith for Eli Roth’s star-studded “Borderlands” video-game adaptation.

Blanchett’s character is an infamous outlaw who returns to her home planet of Pandora on a mission to track down the missing daughter of the universe’s top leader, Atlas (Edgar Ramírez). Lilith enlists former elite mercenary Roland (Kevin Hart), pre-teen demolitionist Tiny Tina (“Barbie” breakout Ariana Greenblatt), her bodyguard Krieg (Florian Munteanu), mad scientist Tannis (Jamie Lee Curtis), and robot Claptrap (Jack Black) to help.

More from IndieWire

“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 synopsis reads. “The fate of the universe could be in their hands – but they’ll be fighting for something more: each other.”

Curtis previously shared a sneak peek at Blanchett in character on Instagram, writing, “Welcome to BORDERLANDS and a secret BTS shot I took of Lilith, our legendary heroine, psycho blasting, vault hunting, vixen with a bad attitude and two Oscars to add to the baddasery in her tool belt. The once and future Queen of EVERYTHING, #cateblanchett.”

“Borderlands” hails from the producers of “Uncharted” and “Venom,” with director Roth penning the script with Joe Crombie. The film is based on the bestselling franchise game of the same name from Gearbox and 2K. “The Last of Us” screenwriter Craig Mazin was originally announced back in 2020 to write the screenplay; Roth and Crombie instead took over, with Roth credited with the story.

“Everything in my directing career has led to a project of this scale and ambition. I look forward to bringing my own energy, ideas, and vision to the wild, fun, and endlessly creative world of the game,” Roth shared in a 2020 press statement. “Randy Pitchford and everyone at Gearbox have been incredibly supportive of my ideas — it really feels like a perfect storm of creators coming together. We are out to make a new classic, one which the fans of the game will love, but also one which will find new audiences globally.”

Roth did not take a break after “Borderlands.” Instead, he directed indie-horror film “Thanksgiving” over 18 days while “Borderlands” was in post-production. (“Deadpool” director Tim Miller took over two weeks of “Borderlands” reshoots that overlapped with Roth’s “Thanksgiving” production in January 2023, Deadline reported.)

“Borderlands” is produced by Avi and Ari Arad and Erik Feig. The film will be executive produced by Randy Pitchford, executive producer of the “Borderlands” video-game franchise and founder of Gearbox Software, and Strauss Zelnick, chairman and CEO of Take-Two Interactive. Tim Miller, Ethan Smith, Louise Rosner, Emmy Yu, Lucy Kitada, Christopher Woodrow, and K. Blaine Johnston also executive produce.

“Borderlands” premieres in theaters later this year. Check out the trailer below.

Best of IndieWire

Sign up for Indiewire's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.