Jack Black s the cast of the Borderlands game series has sold over 68 million copies with revenues in excess of $1 billion.
After spawning comic book and novel adaptations, the highly successful Borderlands video game franchise will now become a film from Lionsgate with Eli Roth set to direct from a script by Craig Mazin. Much to the delight of fans, the adaptation will preserve the R-rated tone of the Borderlands games. Casting for the movie has been ongoing, with Cate Blanchett hopping aboard as the magical Lilith, Kevin Hart as the stoic Roland (it’s a little hard to imagine the hyperactive Hart playing stoic) and most recently Jamie Lee Curtis as the erratic Tannis.
That already strong cast indeed continues to grow as Lionsgate reveals that Black will jump aboard the film to voice the role of Claptrap, who’s described as “a persistently sarcastic robot that isn’t all that invested in the survival of his teammates.” Claptrap has appeared in all incarnations of the Borderlands series, and is considered the games’ mascot.
Black of course knows all about working with director Roth as the two collaborated on the hit film Po in the Kung Fu Panda films.
Black indeed sounds like the perfect actor to voice “a persistently sarcastic robot,” as he’s one of the most expert comedic performers around, either in live-action or as a vocal performer (or randomly recreating moments from Thor on Instagram). It remains to be seen of course what Roth will ultimately do with Borderlands, and whether the movie he creates will satisfy the video games’ millions of fans. But there’s no question the cast is coming together nicely with Black arriving to provide comic relief alongside the likes of Blanchett, Hart and Curtis.
Source: Lionsgate
