Borderlands film earns poor reviews, but publisher encourages viewers to give it a chance

Take-Two’s CEO is encouraging fans to give the Borderlands film a chance, despite its debut receiving numerous negative reviews.

The highly-anticipated Borderlands movie was released on August 8, and it has already been labeled as one of the worst films of the year by many. With a disappointing 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, it’s a less than ideal beginning for the franchise.

The movie’s debut aligned with Take-Two’s Q1 2025 earnings call, as Take-Two is the parent company of Gearbox Software, the developer of Borderlands. The CEO is currently encouraging fans to watch the film despite the overwhelming negative reviews.

Borderlands

According to Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick in an interview with IGN, he urged people to give the film a chance despite its negative reviews. He acknowledged the hard work put into the project and praised the amazing cast and the overall aesthetic of the film, stating that the underlying intellectual property is phenomenal.

Despite receiving negative reviews from critics, Zelnick reassured that the film will not have a significant impact on Take-Two’s financial status or the overall success of the game franchise.

“Zelnick clarified that the performance of the film would not have any financial impact on either us or the franchise, regardless of the outcome.”

Zelnick also mentioned that Take-Two is highly selective when it comes to choosing which games to adapt into films. According to him, the financial implications of licensing a game for a film are significant, so they only pursue it if the creators are truly enthusiastic about the project.

Take-Two has only planned one other video game adaptation aside from Borderlands, which is a BioShock adaptation with Netflix.

In 2022, a partnership was formed between Netflix and Take-Two to produce a BioShock movie. The most recent update on the script was given by the director in late 2023.