‘Borderlands’ Director Eli Roth Blames COVID for the Movie’s Quality: “You can’t prep a movie on that scale over Zoom”

The 2024 Borderlands movie, directed by Eli Roth, hit theaters with high hopes but left audiences and critics largely disappointed. Based on the popular video game series by Gearbox Software, the film aimed to bring the chaotic, colorful world of Pandora to life.

Instead, it stumbled through production challenges and failed to connect with fans, earning a mere 10% on Rotten Tomatoes and grossing just $33 million against a $110–120 million budget.

Filming began in Budapest, Hungary, in April 2021, during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The global health crisis disrupted the process significantly. Outbreaks forced sets to shut down, and restrictions prevented the crew from gathering in person. Essential tasks like stunt coordination and pre-visualization became nearly impossible.

Roth later shared that coordinating reshoots was a nightmare, with team members scattered across different locations and unable to meet face-to-face. Attempts to prepare the movie via Zoom fell flat, as the scale of the project demanded hands-on collaborationm

“I think none of us, none of us anticipated how complicated things were gonna be with COVID,” Roth said. “Not just in terms of what we’re shooting, but then you have to do pick-up shots or reshoots and you have six people that are all on different sets and every one of those sets is getting shut down because the cities have opened up, and now there’s a COVID outbreak and it was just like… we couldn’t prep in a room together, I couldn’t be with my stunt people, I couldn’t do pre-vis, everyone’s spread all over the place. You can’t prep a movie on that scale over Zoom, and I think we all thought we could pull it off, and we got our a**es handed to us a bit.“

The movie’s troubles didn’t end with production. The final cut wasn’t even overseen by Roth, who had moved on to direct Thanksgiving. Instead, Deadpool director Tim Miller stepped in for two weeks of reshoots in 2023. The script saw multiple rewrites, with writers like Craig Mazin and Joe Crombie involved at different stages.

Fans of the game were frustrated by changes to beloved characters. For example, Tiny Tina, a fan-favorite, was reimagined as a genetically engineered “chosen one,” and Lilith’s identity as a siren was revealed as a plot twist rather than a core trait. Claptrap, the quirky robot, took on a darker edge that didn’t sit well with audiences.

Despite the star-studded cast—including Cate Blanchett as Lilith, Kevin Hart as Roland, and Jack Black as the voice of Claptrap—the film struggled to find its footing. It opened to a dismal $8.6 million in the U.S. and Canada, far below expectations.

Critics called it uninspired, pointing to weak action scenes and a lack of the game’s wild energy. Audiences gave it a “D+” on CinemaScore, reflecting their disappointment.

Interestingly, the movie wasn’t a total loss for the Borderlands franchise. Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Take-Two Interactive, noted that the film boosted sales of Borderlands 3, with Steam player counts doubling after the release. Still, he emphasized that future adaptations would need careful consideration.

The Borderlands movie shows how tough it can be to adapt a beloved game for the screen, especially under tough circumstances like a pandemic. The team’s ambition was clear, but straying too far from the source material and facing logistical chaos hurt the final product. It’s a reminder that staying true to what fans love matters just as much as navigating production hurdles.

What do you think about the Borderlands movie’s missteps? Share your thoughts in the comments below!