Deadpool director Tim Miller's taking over the Borderlands movie

We’ve known for a few years that Gearbox’s sci-fi shooter Borderlands is being adapted for the silver screen, but shooting on the movie is now almost finished. Director Eli Roth, known for grisly stuff such as Cabin Fever, has jumped off the project ahead of schedule though. Deadline report that Roth has handed Borderlands over to his friend Tim Miller, the director of Deadpool. Miller will oversee a few weeks of reshoots for Borderlands while Roth begins work on a horror movie called Thanksgiving.

Miller seems like an appropriate director to take over Borderlands from Roth, even at this late stage. Deadpool was definitely a wacky action movie that strikes a similar tone to the Borderlands games, so there’s that. Miller was also a visual effects producer for games such as Mass Effect 2 and Star Wars: The Old Republic in the past, and directed the Sonic The Hedgehog movies. I’m going to go on record as actually enjoying both of those video game adaptations. So, yeah, explosions plus comedy could equal tolerable film.

Roth signed up to direct Borderlands in 2020, but the project to remove the game aspect and transplant in a two-and-a-bit hour running time has been kicking around Hollywood since 2015. Lionsgate and Avad Productions are behind the whole thing, with actors such as Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, and Jamie Lee Curtis starring in it. Jack Black is voicing Claptrap. That means Bowser and Claptrap are actually the same person, you know.

There’s no confirmed release date just yet for the Borderlands movie, but I’ll let you know when one’s announced. I’m slightly more interested now that Miller’s involved.