Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick has an upbeat outlook on this year’s Borderlands film, and said that the “disappointing” movie hasn’t hurt the Borderlands video game series. In fact, it gave it a boost.
It’s fair to say that the Borderlands film did not take off to the degree many had hoped and will not exactly go down in a Hall of Fame alongside the likes of HBO’s The Last of Us or Amazon’s Fallout, both of which were praised by fans and critics alike.
Alas, for poor ol’ Borderlands, this year’s Cate Blanchett-fronted film was instead branded a “disaster” and “huge misfire” by viewers. In fact, one review called it a “lifeless, unfunny, and visually repulsive dud”. Eesh. The adaptation generated just $4m across 3125 locations on its opening day, before quickly getting shifted onto streaming services.
Zelnick commented on the film’s performance last night during an earnings call for Take-Two. When an investor asked about the project and how it contributed to the company, Zelnick stated Take Two didn’t “really need to break out the contribution from the film because while it was economically positive, it wasn’t material” to the company’s results.
“Even though the film was disappointing, it actually benefited our catalogue sales,” he continued. “So that is a sign that making a movie or a television show based on our very high-quality IP can drive catalogue sales and that can be a good thing.”
That’s not to say Take-Two is now going to go all in on film and television adaptations for its various IPs.
“All that said, we’re really selective. And one of the reasons we have been so selective about licensing is we would really prefer that everything that comes out with our brands in it is really, really successful,” Zelnick stated. “And we can’t guarantee that, especially when it’s out of our hands. So we have licensed other titles, we’ll continue selectively… emphasis on the word selectively.”
I now wonder what could be next…?
Earlier this year, founder of Borderlands developer Gearbox Randy Pitchford defended the studio’s recent flops such as the film by comparing the company to The Beatles. Writing on social media, Pitchford stated he was “going to keep making stuff” and subsequently brought the English rock band into the conversation.
As for what is next from the series, Borderlands 4 was announced back in August. While the team at Gearbox has not announced a release date yet, it has said the game will be coming in 2025. It will be available across PS5, PC and Xbox Series X/S.
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