BORDERLANDS Director Eli Roth Says the Movie "Belonged to Nobody" After Its 10% Rotten Tomatoes Disaster

When Borderlands hit theaters in 2024, fans were hoping for a wild, chaotic, over-the-top adaptation that embraced everything people loved about the video game franchise.

Instead, audiences got one of the year's biggest cinematic disappointments. The film crashed with critics, earned a brutal 10% score on Rotten Tomatoes, and brought in just $33 million worldwide despite featuring a cast packed with A-list talent.

Now, Eli Roth is opening up about why he believes the movie fell apart, and according to him, the biggest problem was that it tried to be everything to everyone.

Speaking with Variety, Roth explained, "As things grow bigger, studios just naturally become more risk averse. My nature as a filmmaker is to do the thing that's left of center, because that's what has worked for me."

That cautious approach seems to have shaped Borderlands from the ground up. While the games are known for their outrageous violence, twisted humor, and unapologetically mature tone, the movie was pushed toward a PG-13 rating. That decision stripped away much of what made the source material stand out in the first place.

Roth continued by saying, "You got something that belonged to nobody. It's not a kids' movie, but it's trying to appeal to everybody. It's for gamers, but it doesn't have the violence the gamers want because it can't be that extreme because it costs too much. You just wind up with a movie that's neither fish nor fowl."

It's hard to argue with that assessment. The finished film felt like it was caught in an identity crisis. It wasn't edgy enough for longtime Borderlands fans, but it also didn't offer much for general audiences looking for a fun sci-fi action movie.

What's surprising is just how much talent was involved. Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Ariana Greenblatt all signed on for major roles, yet even that impressive lineup couldn't save the project from becoming both a critical and box office disaster.

While Roth points to studio decisions and the struggle to satisfy every audience, that explanation only goes so far. Borderlands wasn't just watered down. It was one of the worst movies released in 2024. It felt bland, formulaic, and completely lacking the energy and personality that made the games such a blast to play.

Could a harder R-rated version have been better? Maybe. But that's only part of the story. At the end of the day, Roth directed the movie that ended up on screen, and it simply didn't work.

Blaming the film's identity crisis is understandable, but the final product still landed with audiences exactly as it was made. People weren't interested in paying to see it, and that's ultimately on the filmmakers as much as the studio.

A Borderlands movie should've been chaotic, hilarious, violent, and completely unhinged. Instead, fans got a paint-by-numbers adaptation that played it safe at almost every turn. That's probably the biggest disappointment of all.