Borderlands movie start of “Cinematic Universe”, Randy Pitchford says

The upcoming Cate Blanchett-fronted Borderlands film is the start of a “Borderlands Cinematic Universe”, according to Gearbox founder Randy Pitchford.

Speaking with IGN About the recent Borderlands trailer, Pitchford discussed the film's place in the video game universe, saying it “lives side by side.”

“Of course, the characters are there and authentic in the themes and even some of the storylines. But they're independent storylines,” Pitchford told the publication, stating the film isn't either Borderlands 1 or 2. Rather, it is ” the first of the Borderlands Cinematic Universe”, which means fans of the series will “see some characters from some of the different parts of what you might know from the video games”.

Pitchford said this approach has allowed the film's team to “get deeper and expand a little bit” on the Borderlands world. “You never met the CEO of the Atlas Corporation and you will meet that character for the first time in the Borderlands movie and his name is Deukalian Atlas,” the Gearbox executive said.

This character is played by actor Édgar Ramírez, whose previous film credits include Zero Dark Thirty, The Bourne Ultimatum and Jungle Cruise. According to Pitchford, when he was on set with Ramírez, he told the actor to “imagine that you've got a dick made out of three machine guns when you're in this scene”, so there is something for you to think about this Friday morning.

After a rather tumultuous production period, Borderlands is set to release later this year, on 9th August. Along with Ramírez and Blanchett's Lilith, the film also stars Kevin Hart as soldier Roland, Ariana Greenblatt as pre-teen demolitionist Tiny Tina, Florian Munteanu as Tina's bodyguard Krieg, Jamie Lee Curtis as scientist Tannis and Jack Black as (the voice of) robot Claptrap.