If you were hoping that the Mario and Sonic films were heralding a new age in good video game movie adaptations, the live-action film based on the single-player and multiplayer shooter Borderlands probably represents a wake-up call. Or perhaps this was an expected outcome considering critical reaction ahead of its release. In either case, the weekend box office numbers tell a grim tale for the film’s theatrical release.
The film’s weekend debut brought in a meager total of $16.5M overall – $8.8M domestically and $7.7M overseas – for a film that cost $115M to produce and another $30M to advertise for. To put those numbers in even further context, about 60% of its production costs were covered by international presales, and it ended up fourth in the box office overall behind a sequel that arguably didn’t need to be made.
Audiences appear to mostly agree with critical sentiment for the movie, with a 50% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a D+ grade on CinemaScore at the time of this story’s writing. As one review on Rotten Tomatoes reads, Borderlands is “an utterly boring, unfunny adaptation of the games, with unimpressive acting from a surprisingly packed cast of celebrities.”
