Borderlands Box Office: Video Game Adaptation Flops in Opening Weekend

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As a seasoned gamer and movie enthusiast who’s been through the highs and lows of video game adaptations, I must say, watching ‘Borderlands‘ was as disappointing as a rare White Legendary Moze drop – you know, the one that vanishes before you can even loot it.

In an unusual turn of events at the box office last weekend, the competition for the top spot was more a friendly contest than typical. The main focus was on Blake Lively’s movie, “It Ends With Us“, challenging Ryan Reynolds’ three-time champion film, “Deadpool & Wolverine“. It’s hard to label Lionsgate Films’ “Borderlands” as an insignificant element; during its opening weekend, it managed to earn $8.8 million.

As the release date approached, the expectations for the movie became increasingly low, as trailers failed to spark interest. Despite this, it struggled to meet even the most pessimistic prediction of earning $10 million, and fell short of 10% approval on Rotten Tomatoes. In fact, it managed to earn only about half of what Twister made… in its fourth weekend. Check out our review for our assessment of the film’s quality.

As Much a Commercial Failure as a Critical One

Several aspects led to the movie’s downfall. The trailers gave an impression that it was just another typical Guardians of the Galaxy film. The casting choice of Kevin Hart seemed unusual, and the character portrayed by Jack Black as a comic relief was immediately grating for viewers. The film primarily relied on expensive visuals, which could also be seen in other screenings of Deadpool & Wolverine, where audiences were already expecting an enjoyable experience.

Highlighting another perspective on the significant setback faced by Borderlands is that video game adaptations have recently broken their prolonged string of losses. On the big screen, Sonic the Hedgehog movies performed exceptionally well, while The Super Mario Bros. Movie ruled supreme. However, in a similar category as Borderlands, mature-rated game adaptations like The Last of Us on HBO and Fallout on Prime Video have garnered impressive viewership numbers and stellar critical acclaim.

To put it simply, the movie didn’t leave a positive impact on those who watched it. It got a terrible D+ rating from CinemaScore, which measures audience feedback. Given its massive production budget of $110 million (and keep in mind that marketing expenses haven’t been factored in yet), it’s likely to hit streaming platforms sooner rather than later, as Lionsgate aims to recover at least some of their investment.

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2024-08-12 18:33