Borderlands Director Blames COVID and Zoom Calls for Movie’s Failure

The director of Borderlands explained that the film didn’t succeed due to the impact of COVID-19; it’s not feasible to make a big-budget production using only video conferencing tools like Zoom.

During an interview on The Town podcast (through PCGamer), Borderlands director Eli Roth discussed how COVID-19 and virtual meetings via Zoom affected the movie’s production. Roth stated that they had not anticipated “how challenging things would become due to COVID,” and these challenges manifested not only during filming but also in various other stages of production.

Borderlands Movie Failed Due to COVID and Zoom

Roth explained that the situation was chaotic for them, as they had to carry out reshoots and pick-up shoots simultaneously, with six different groups working on separate sets. Each set would shut down when a city reopened. To make matters worse, there was an outbreak of COVID in the area, which prevented them from preparing together, meeting their stunt performers, or doing any pre-visualization work.

Roth asserts, “It’s not feasible to produce a film of such magnitude using only Zoom.” Initially, they believed they could successfully create Borderlands amidst COVID-19 and Zoom meetings; however, Roth clarifies, “We experienced a setback, to put it mildly.

The Borderlands film experienced a lackluster debut on Rotten Tomatoes with a score of just 10%, leaving many fans underwhelmed. This dissatisfaction stemmed from significant departures from the original material and certain character portrayals that didn’t resonate well with the fanbase. Nevertheless, Take-Two Interactive’s CEO has mentioned that despite its shortcomings, the movie managed to boost game sales.

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2025-04-14 12:47