Take-Two CEO Comments on the Impact of the Borderlands Movie

Take-Two CEO Comments on the Impact of the Borderlands Movie

Key Takeaways

  • Borderlands movie was a box office flop but boosted game sales.
  • CEO Zelnick acknowledges the challenges of adapting games to movies.
  • Borderlands 4 is in development, with uncertainties about its success.

As a gamer who’s spent countless hours blasting through the vibrant and chaotic world of Pandora, I can’t help but feel a bittersweet sense of nostalgia when it comes to the Borderlands movie. On one hand, the film was a box office flop that left many fans disappointed – a fate all too familiar for video game adaptations. But on the other, it managed to boost sales for the very games it tried (and somewhat failed) to emulate, which is a curious twist of fate indeed!


Regarding the movie adaptation of “Borderlands”, although it may have been deemed unsuccessful by many, Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick maintains a more optimistic outlook. In a recent interview, he touched upon several games developed by their team, including the future plans for the “Borderlands” franchise and the influence of the film on its development.

Over nine years after its initial announcement, the long-awaited “Borderlands” film premiered in August 2024. Starring big names like Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, and Jack Black, it flopped at the box office, falling short of covering its production costs. Disappointing both fans of the game and general audiences, the “Borderlands” movie has been widely criticized as a misstep by followers of the popular looter shooter franchise.

Recently, Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Take-Two Interactive, spoke with IGN about the movie’s influence, and he mentioned that the movie’s release wasn’t entirely detrimental. While Zelnick acknowledged that the film was underwhelming, it surprisingly had a slight beneficial effect on the company by boosting sales for the Borderlands games. He didn’t reveal any specific numbers, but there was a significant increase in sales for Borderlands 3 following the movie’s premiere. It appears that the film positively impacted Take-Two, despite its lackluster performance at the box office.

Adapting Games to Movies is Hard

Zelnick went on to explain that the process of making the movie served to emphasize his earlier statements about the challenges in converting video games into other formats. Nevertheless, he’s also expressed that there’s minimal danger associated with licensing a game brand for a film. It remains unclear if Take-Two will view this film’s influence on its collection as justification for approving further adaptations, or if they might shift away from films in general.

Despite the fact that the Borderlands movie didn’t perform well, the series is moving forward and Borderlands 4 is on the way. However, details about the project are scarce, and it has a lot of ground to cover to win back fans following the mixed reviews for Borderlands 3. Although Gearbox reported that Borderlands 3 sold better than expected, it hasn’t yet surpassed the sales record set by Borderlands 2. The game received praise for certain aspects, but many players were disappointed with the storyline and character developments, which might affect how they view the sequel. For now, we’ll have to wait and see if the future of Borderlands is on an upward trend or if its next installment will fall short.

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2024-11-07 05:35