Video game movies (and TV shows) are coming. From The Last of Us on HBO to Fallout on Amazon Prime Video to lots more Sonic and Mario films coming to theaters, Hollywood has finally gotten wise that popular games make for popular shows and movies, and we should only expect more going forward.
For instance, sometime soon we’ll see Lionsgate’s adaptation of Gearbox’s first-person Borderlands series, which distinguished itself not just for its anarchic gunplay but also the running commentary from wiseass characters like Claptrap the robot. Claptrap will be played by Jack Black in the movie, and he was on hand to announce the official close of filming:
Claptrap really wanted to let you all know he made it down the stairs safely. That, and the production of #BorderlandsMovie has officially wrapped! See you at the theaters in 20 💣 💣 pic.twitter.com/69NFljVjDc
— Borderlands (@BorderlandsFilm) June 22, 2021
Black is just one of the big names on board for Borderlands. Jamie Lee Curtis plays Tannis, an archaeologist studying alien technology, while Kevin Hart plays a mercenary named Roland. And perhaps the biggest get is Cate Blanchett as the siren Lilith. This is a seriously talented cast!
The whole thing is headed up by Eli Roth, who cut his teeth on horror movies like Cabin Fever and Hostel but mellowed out a bit with 2018’s The House With a Clock in Its Walls. I’m guessing he’ll stay in that mode for Borderlands, although there should be plenty of opportunities for the blood to fly.
Final Fantasy IX comes to the screen
In other game-to-screen news, Kidscreen reports that Cyber Group Studios is teaming with video game developer Square Enix for an animated adaptation of Square’s classic role-playing game Final Fantasy IX, which came out for the PlayStation way back in 2000.
The Final Fantasy series has been a mainstay in video games for decades, but despite a few attempts it’s never broken out onto the screen. This new show will be aimed at kids, which makes sense given that Final Fantasy IX is one of the series’ lighter, more whimsical entries. We’ve also heard that Square Enix is working on a live-action Final Fantasy series, so this could be part of a multi-pronged attack. Everyone wants their own cinematic universe these days, and Square Enix has over 30 years of content to mine with Final Fantasy, so why not have at it?
Reportedly, Cyber Group is getting ready to pitch the Final Fantasy show to broadcasters, so it’s probably a ways off. The Borderlands movie is likely coming out sometime in 2022.
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h/t SyFy Wire