Jack Black Cast in Eli Roth's BORDERLANDS as Claptrap
Director Eli Roth has been putting together a crazy impressive ensemble cast for his film adaptation of the hit video game Borderlands. The latest addition to the cast is Jack Black, who previously worked with Roth in The House with a Clock in Its Walls.
Black is set to provide the voice of the character Claptrap, “a persistently sarcastic robot that isn’t all that invested in the survival of his teammate.” Roth said in a statement:
“I am so excited to reunite with Jack, this time in the recording booth. Claptrap is the funniest character in the game, and Jack is perfect to bring him to the big screen.”
Nathan Kahane, president of the Lionsgate Motion Picture Group added:
“We couldn’t have been more in sync with our filmmakers and casting executives as we approached this role. It’s one of the biggest no-brainer casting decisions we’ve ever made. Everyone who’s ever played the game knows Jack is perfect for this part. We’re thrilled he will add his endless comic energy and voice to our film – he’ll bring so much to the movie.”
The story for the film is set in the distant future when “four ‘Vault Hunters’ travel to the distant planet Pandora to hunt down an alien vault rumored to contain advanced alien technology.”
Black joins the previously cast Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, and Jamie Lee Curtis. Blanchett will take on the role of Lilith in the film, and Hart is set to play the ex-soldier turned mercenary, Roland. Curtis will be playing a character named Dr. Patricia Tannis, “an archeologist on Pandora who might have the key to finding the vault, but whose complicated history with Lilith (Blanchett) isn’t going to help.”
Avi and Ari Arad are producing through Arad Prods, and the film is being written by Chernobyl writer Craig Mazin. Here’s the synopsis from the game:
In a distant future, the planets at the outer edges of the galaxy have become a beacon to fortune seekers and those yearning for a better life off world. But there are no guarantees in deep space. Pandora, one of these distant planets, was reported to be rich in untapped mineral wealth, and so drew many hoping to get rich quick, but in the end little was found beyond the scattered ruins of a past alien civilization.
With nothing to gain, any who could soon abandoned Pandora, leaving those who remained to deal with the lawlessness of a world gone bust, and the mystery of the long-dead alien civilization. But as chaotic as these times were, there were worse days yet to come. After several years the planet’s huge orbit slowly brought it near to its sun and once unknown and horrifying creatures sprang from their long hibernation to terrify the stranded colonists.
The only hope of the colonists seems to be a vault discovered in the side of a mountainside, rumored to contain alien technology and secrets about Pandora.
What do you think about Black taking on the role of Claptrap?
Source: Deadline