According to reports, Lionsgate’s Borderlands movie failed to credit two important individuals who played a role in bringing Claptrap to the screen. The individuals in question have come forward to address their omission from the credits.
Despite initial trailers and numerous delays, skepticism remained high for the live-action adaptation of Borderlands. However, after nearly a decade since its announcement, the film has finally been released in cinemas worldwide and, unfortunately, fans’ doubts were proven to be warranted.
Despite receiving a 0% score on Rotten Tomatoes and being deemed the “worst movie of the year” , Borderlands has still garnered some praise for its deviations from the source material in our own review. However, the director was aware that these changes may not sit well with all fans from the very beginning.
Despite the backlash towards the completed film, there has also been controversy surrounding the production. Social media posts from at least two crew members claim that they were not credited in the final film, drawing attention to the oversight.
Up until this point I’ve been exceptionally lucky to have received a credit for every film I’ve worked on. It just stings that the one to finally break the streak was the last film I worked on at a studio. And for such a significant character too
— Robbie Reid the Rigger (@chowgood) August 8, 2024
In a recent post on X (formerly Twitter), visual effects rigging artist Robbie Reid claimed that three years ago, he was working on rigging the CG asset of Claptrap for the Borderlands movie. With an impressive resume that includes credits on popular films such as Shang-Chi and Mortal Kombat, the freelancer quickly gained attention from thousands of online followers.
“I spent five consecutive months working on [Claptrap],”he explained. “Despite collaborating with the artist who created his design throughout the entire process, neither of us received credit for the film.”
Despite experiencing a tumultuous production process, Borderlands had multiple directors, writers, and crews rotate on and off throughout the years. However, despite contributing to the final version of Claptrap featured in the full movie, both Reid and another VFX artist were not credited.
While acknowledging it as a “common problem in the industry,”Reid emphasized that the exclusion is not the responsibility of any individual.
Reid also confirmed that, despite working as a freelancer, he will still include the Claptrap footage in his reel. However, it may be challenging to prove his contributions in the future.
Claptrap, voiced by Jack Black, was allegedly created by two VFX artists not credited in the film.
Despite the post quickly going viral and receiving a large number of comments, Reid wasted no time in shutting down any that poked fun at the film’s reception.
“Some may argue that I avoided a disaster, but I believe that artists should receive recognition for their contributions regardless of the film’s overall quality. It doesn’t require much effort to acknowledge their efforts. I am pleased with the work our team accomplished and I believe the end result was visually stunning.”
Lionsgate has not yet issued a statement regarding the matter.
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