Actor Cate Blanchett recently revealed that she became fully immersed in the world of Borderlands while preparing for her role as Lilith in the upcoming feature adaptation. She shared how buying a PlayStation 5 was the first step in her preparation process.

“The crazy asks are usually the things I gravitate towards; the things I could never conceive of. I think there also may have been a little Covid madness — I was spending a lot of time in the garden, using the chainsaw a little too freely. My husband said, ‘This film could save your life,'” Blanchett recalled during a recent interview with Empire. “My thumbs can barely control a phone, but I bought a PS5 and we played each other. I wanted to know the limits of the game and what fans loved about the character. I got really absorbed in that whole world. The cosplayers. The YouTube make-up tutorials.”

A film adaptation of the Borderlands video games spent around five years in development after being first announced by Lionsgate in August 2015. Eli Roth signed on to direct in February 2020, with casting occurring from May 2020 to March 2021. Production kicked off that April and lasted until June. Two weeks of reshoots then took place in 2023, which were directed by Tim Miller as Roth was unavailable due to his commitments with Thanksgiving. The screenplay was written by Roth and Joe Crombie.

Borderlands Director Dismisses GotG Comparisons

The first trailer for Borderlands was released in February 2024. At the time, many fans noted that the movie’s vibe and aesthetic felt similar to James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy. Roth recently addressed the comparisons, admitting that there was “going to be similarities no matter what you do, just because of the nature of the subject matter.” However, the filmmaker was confident that moviegoers would notice after watching the entire movie that Borderlands was “different” from Guardians of the Galaxy.

Who Else Stars in Borderlands?

Joining Blanchett’s Lilith in Borderlands are Ariana Greenblatt as Tiny Tina, Jack Black as the voice of Claptrap, Kevin Hart as Roland, Jamie Lee Curtis as Dr. Patricia Tannis, Florian Munteanu as Krieg, Edgar Ramirez as Atlas, and Gina Gershon as Mad Moxxi, among others.

The official synopsis for Borderlands reads as follows: “Lilith, an infamous bounty hunter with a mysterious past, reluctantly returns to her home, Pandora, the most chaotic planet in the galaxy. Her mission is to find the missing daughter of Atlas, the universe’s most powerful S.O.B. Lilith forms an unexpected alliance with a ragtag team of misfits – Roland, a seasoned mercenary on a mission; Tiny Tina, a feral pre-teen demolitionist; Krieg, Tina’s musclebound protector; Tannis, the oddball scientist who’s seen it all; and Claptrap, a wiseass robot. Together, these unlikely heroes must battle an alien species and dangerous bandits to uncover one of Pandora’s most explosive secrets. The fate of the universe could be in their hands – but they’ll be fighting for something more: each other.”

Borderlands is scheduled to hit theaters on Aug. 9.