
Tim Miller is currently reshooting parts of the Borderlands movie, with Eli Roth moving on from the project.
Sounds like Roth has been fired from the Borderlands movie, right? You might think so, and there have been the usual rumour but, according to Deadline’s recent article, that’s not the case. But the movie, which stars Cate Blanchette, Jamie Lee Curtis and others, is undergoing a couple of weeks of reshoots.
Roth, who came to prominence with Cabin Fever, was responsible for directing and co-writing the Borderlands movie. However, he’s handed over the reshoot reigns to that he can focus on Thanksgiving, an 80s style slasher based his tongue-in-cheek Grindhouse trailer. But if his exit isn’t a sign that Borderlands is doomed, what about the reshoots? Are they bad news?
We’re faintly concerned, partly because video game movies don’t typically have a great track record. The film, based on Gearbox Software’s FPS series, wrapped filming in 2021. However, Miller is going back to redo certain scenes, to hopefully give the movie a big boost.
So, no, reshoots aren’t necessarily a bad thing, though if they’re down to studio interference, rather being the director/producer’s choice, that could be an issue. Take Hitman, another game-based movie, for example. Director Xavier Gens was fired and another director was brought for some frankly ridiculous reshoots.
How ridiculous? Instead of the original train-based shoot-out, Fox had the new director reshoot the scene as a swordfight. Yes, these trained assassins put their guns down and had a brawl with oversized knives. We’d pay good money for Gens to put out his own director’s cut but that’s not going to happen.
As for the Borderlands movie? It’s likely these reshoots were informed by last November’s test-screenings. Still, maybe we’ll get a Ryan Reynolds cameo. Probably not – they didn’t part on good terms, which is apparently why Miller didn’t direct Deadpool 2.
The Borderlands movie doesn’t have a release date as yet but you can follow the official Twitter account for more news and information.