How Will the Borderlands Movie Affect Borderlands 4?

The 1990s saw the start of a new genre of film. Movies like Super Mario Bros., Street Fighter, and Mortal Kombat were some of the first to try to adapt video games into movies. Yet, throughout the years, these adaptations have mostly been disappointments. Movies like Sonic and Detective Pikachu were outliers that were pleasant surprises. The recent Borderlands movie seems to fall into the former category. 

 

The Borderlands movie was released in theaters on 9 August 2024. Boxing a measly $31.2 million with over $110 million budget. Safe to say, the movie was a total flop. In its essence, the movie failed to capture the allure of the games, restricting its humor with a controversial PG-13 rating. It also seemingly missed the point of games, delivering boring action and dull jokes. Meanwhile, the games are known for their humor and over-the-top action. 

The Borderlands franchise has seen steady popularity on the gaming side of things, with Borderlands 2 having everything from good gameplay to a great story. While Borderlands 3 missed the mark in the storytelling department, it also received critical praise for its gameplay. One of the key elements that made the first two games so likable was its characters, story, and humor; we can see why the third entry wasn’t as popular. Three is indeed a cursed number. However, that was in 2019. Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands saw a similar-ish response, being more beloved for its different approach to the franchise. Yet again, that was two years ago.

It seemed to many that a new Borderlands game would remain a dream for a while, but with the movie’s release date, some people hoped an announcement for a new entry would follow. And finally, at Gamescom, Gearbox officially announced Borderlands 4. Some think that this was meant as a package deal, so to speak. A movie and a game announcement are placed close to one another. With poor reception by critics and the average movie-watcher alike, one must wonder what it means for Borderlands 4.

Well, Borderlands 4 certainly seems to have wanted to capitalize on any hype generated from the movie. It didn’t really pay off, as, if anything, the movie's poor performance may leave a bad taste for the franchise to an average person. It might not matter much for the avid gamer, as people are increasingly getting hyped for the game. If anything, any negative attention from the movie may end up helping the game in the long run, as many more people are now introduced to the franchise. Furthermore, it allows the developers to look closely at what made the movie fail and learn from it to improve aspects of the game. Regardless, we can be certain of one thing: there will be a lot of action.