The Terrible Borderlands Movie is Already Getting a Digital Release
A couple of weeks ago, a film adaptation of the popular Borderlands video game series was released in theaters, and boy, it was not received well. Now, after a very disappointing showing at the box office, it looks like Borderlands is already heading to digital streaming platforms.
According to a post from The Hollywood Handle, Borderlands will be available digitally from August 30, 2024. It’s not said how this digital availability will go, be it through digital storefronts like Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV, or through streaming services like Netflix, but we’d expect, at least for now, to be the former.
If true – and there’s no reason to believe otherwise at this point – this would mean the film is going to be available digitally just three weeks after its August 9, 2024 theatrical release date. That’s a pretty short window, but it’s hardly surprising given how poorly the film has performed at the box office. According to The Numbers, the film has brought in just $21 million worldwide during its theatrical run, well short of the film’s approximately $120 million budget.
It wasn’t well-liked by critics either, with Borderlands debuting at 0% on Rotten Tomatoes, a score that only just climbed up to 10% in the following weeks. The film was slammed in early reactions, with critics calling it “a complete mess”, “baffling”, and “dull”. Audience scores were a little bit better, at 53% on Rotten Tomatoes, but that’s not exactly a glowing score, either.
Our own Borderlands review wasn’t what you’d call positive, with reviewer Billie calling the film “lifeless”:
Borderlands is lifeless, and no amount of poorly crafted action sequences, manufactured unearned emotion, and cringeworthy attempts at witty quips can revive it. Towards the end, the film practically pleads with audiences to forgive it for its sins, making it all the more inexcusable.
Quite often, "bad" movies will get a pass from audiences because at least everyone on screen looks like they're having a good time. Here, not one person looked like they were getting anything beyond a slice of that rumored $120 million budget.
Related: Borderlands Movie Turned Cate Blanchett Into a PS5 Gamer
