Borderlands Is The Biggest Flop Of The Year And The Numbers Prove It
Ever since the first trailer for Borderlands came out, fans had very low expectations for the movie. The game franchise has many fans and they were quick to point out the movie did not seem interested in being an accurate adaptation at all. While being original can sometimes pay off, in this case, it has officially led to Borderlands being the biggest box office flop of the year.
Getting Down To Brass Tacks
The Numbers has data on how movies do financially, and the results for Borderlands have been embarrassing. The film cost an estimated $120 million to make, and now over a month into its theatrical debut, it has only made $32 million worldwide. That alone would make the movie a disaster in terms of earning back its costs, but it gets even worse when factoring in what was spent on additional costs for the film.
It is estimated that an additional $30 million was spent on the marketing and distribution for Borderlands. This puts Borderlands behind some of the year’s most critically reviled movies, such as Madame Web, which earned $100 million, effectively recouping its production budget. Now with the end of the year on the horizon, it looks hard to imagine a movie dethroning Borderlands for being 2024’s biggest financial dud.
Casting Call Missed The Mark
For fans of the Borderlands games, the casting alone left nothing to be excited about for the characters of the franchise being brought to life. The tall, muscular, stoic Roland was played by comedian Kevin Hart. The siren Lilith, who is a young woman in the games, was portrayed by 55-year-old Cate Blanchett. And Claptrap was played by Jack Black, who is having a rough year for his public perception.
Some adaptations deviate from the source material in ways that are new and exciting by being more easily accessible to non-fans. But even people unfamiliar with Borderlands did not seem to understand what the movie was trying to be. Many compared it to a less funny version of Guardians of the Galaxy.
Part Of An Underlying Video Game Curse?
Some might be tempted to chalk up the failure of Borderlands to the supposed “video game curse,” but that has been sufficiently broken numerous times over in the last few years alone.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie was one of the biggest box office hits of 2023. TV adaptations of The Last of Us and Fallout have been showered with praise and awards. And many are speculating Sonic the Hedgehog 3 will be the winner in its impending head-to-head in theaters with The Lion King prequel this December.
Don’t Expect A Redemption Arc On This Run
Unfortunately for the team behind Borderlands, its financial failure simply seems to be lack of passion for the source material, with several of the actors involved plainly stating they had never even played the games. And it is unlikely its box office returns will improve much, with the movie largely gone from theaters already. It is currently only playing in 14 states in America.
Another One Bites The Dust
It is never a joyous occasion to see a project fail, especially when it has so many actors who are otherwise beloved. However, the numbers don’t lie, and in a rough year for some movies, Borderlands still looks like it will lead the pack as 2024’s worst film.
Source: The Numbers
