UNLOCKING THE VAULT: A FIRST GLIMPSE INTO THE BORDERLANDS MOVIE PHENOMENON

As video game adaptations go, the forthcoming Borderlands movie is fizzing with anticipation, raising the pulse of both games and movie fans. The palpable heartbeat of enthusiasm was on vibrant display earlier this week at IGN Live, its very first event in Los Angeles, where director Eli Roth (of Cabin Fever fame) and game characters-turned-actors Ariana Greenblatt (Tiny Tina) and Florian Munteneau (Krieg) offered up the very first look at the film. Of course, digital spheres bubble over with first glances, too. If you missed out on the in-person thrill of the occasion, you can catch up right here.

A LEGENDARY GATHERING OF HEROESTHE

The glimpse isn’t simply a trailer, nor even a clip; it’s the introduction to a fully realised world. We’re reintroduced to Lilith (Cate Blanchett), Roland (Kevin Hart), Claptrap (voiced by Jack Black), Dr Patricia Tannis (Jamie Lee Curtis), Tiny Tina and Krieg – and witness a furious shoot-out with the psycho bandits. It’s hard to imagine a cast for the Borderlands video game universe more joyful than this.

WHEN BANDITS STORMED IGN LIVE

There was some IRL madness of its own as the Borderlands segment played out. Actor-like psycho bandits came to the stage to interrupt the show. IGN Live was an immersive event that felt like you were in the game. Attendees and viewers would leave feeling like, ‘OK, I just lived that.’

THE LEGEND OF BRINGING BORDERLANDS TO LIFE

The infrequent interviews with the Borderlands filmmakers that have trickled out of IGN Live provide some intrigue about the creative process at work. [INSERT QUOTES HERE] These exchanges make it clear that it is not just love, but even a bit of reverence, that the makers are putting into their attempts to create a cinematic approximation of the game.

THE INSPIRATION BEHIND TINY TINA

And Ariana Greenblatt as an explosives-loving, unpredictable Tiny Tina who riffs on the Margot Robbie-inflected Harley Quinn from the Joker movie targets (2019). But it’s that happy hybrid that portends that each of the character embodiments will be its own special kind of varied, fresh and unforgettable thing.

THE LEGEND CONTIN Best Regards, UES WITH MORE COVERAGE

Die-hard fans can get their daily dose of content, too, through videos such as a trailer breakdown with Gearbox VP of marketing Randy Pitchford; interviews with director Eli Roth that reveal his ambitions and vision for the movie; and, of course, general hype videos that flesh out the Borderlands cinematic universe.

BEYOND THE WORLD OF BORDERLANDS

Pandora was far from the only chaos monster that IGN Live called forth that evening. ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2’ and other works of fantasy, from an animated rendition of the Dungeons & Dragons series The Legend of Vox Machina to the animated dragon fantasy She-Dragon, were all announced. The world of video game and fantasy adaptation, with its wide cast, is bigger and stranger than ever.

A DATE WITH DESTINY: THE BORDERLANDS MOVIE PREMIERE

But as the doors of Los Angeles’ Magic Box at The Reef close on another day of gaming, film, TV and comic shows, the long road to 9 August, when Borderlands will break out of the console, begins. It will open up a Pandora almost as open-ended as the imaginations of its creators, and as eternal as the myths before it.

THE ESSENCE OF A LEGEND

In all ways, the Borderlands movie is looking to become a legend in its own right. From the cast to the direction and, it seems, the fans and those discovering it for the first time, every piece of the adaptation is a tribute to the power of storytelling through mediums. Whether it’s the laughter of Claptrap, the bravery of Lilith, or the unpredictable chaos of Tiny Tina, the legend of Borderlands is not just preserved in this movie – it is poised to grow and spread to a whole new audience.

What’s more certain as the film’s release approaches: that Borderlands doesn’t merely translate the experience of the video games into a new cinematic realm. It also shows a path towards how video game adaptations can live up to the legacies of their source material, while also creating their own.