First Look At Cate Blanchett In Borderlands Movie Revealed

See Cate Blanchett as Lilith in the Borderlands movie.

By Jason Collins | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

borderlands movie logo

The Borderlands movie, based on one of the best-selling critically-acclaimed gaming titles, began shooting on April 1st, 2021, with most of its cast already assembled. Now, almost two months later, actor and fighting game enthusiast Jamie Lee Curtis offers us the first glimpse of Cate Blanchett as Lilith, the upcoming adaptation’s leading role.

In charge of playing an eccentric Dr. Tannis, Borderlands star Jamie Lee Curtis posted an on-set behind-the-scenes picture of Cate Blanchett on her Twitter account. Though we only see Blanchett in silhouette, the photo reveals much more than it seems – her take on the character closely resembles Lilith’s appearance from the games, with similarly placed holsters, mismatching boots, and a familiar sweep of hair. Although the picture doesn’t reveal further detail, we’ll assume that the production team gave Blanchett’s blond hair a bright red makeover.

Though we haven’t had the chance to witness any of the other actors in their respective roles, we suspect that this isn’t the last “leak” and behind-the-scene shot from the Borderlands set. And while the rest of the cast’s physical appearance remains shrouded in mystery, we can offer some of the movie’s plot details. The Borderlands movie’s narrative is set on the fictional planet Pandora in the Borderlands universe with plenty of familiar in-game elements following Cate Blanchett as Lilith and the rest of the cast on a story that’s doesn’t strictly adhere to the story portrayed in the game. Instead, the creative teams behind and in front of the camera are telling their own story set on Pandora.  

The movie’s plot is centered around Cate Blanchett as Lilith, one of six women in the galaxy capable of wielding extraordinary psychic abilities, on her quest to recover the missing daughter of Atlas. Blanchett’s character is accompanied by Kevin Hart’s Roland, Jamie Lee Curtis’ Dr. Tannis, Gina Gershon’s Moxxi, Jack Black’s Claptrap, the game’s iconic robot, and many others. Borderlands is directed by the master of the horror genre, Eli Roth (Hostel, The House With the Clock in its Walls), under Lionsgate’s production banner, with the movie’s script written by Craig Mazin (Chernobyl, The Hangover Part 2 and 3).

Unfortunately, the Borderlands movie is missing a release date but is expected to hit the movie theaters sometime in 2022, giving Cate Blanchett and the rest of the A-tier talent plenty of time to bring the cinematic adaptation to life. In the end, giving a fantastic gaming franchise such as Borderlands an underperforming movie adaptation would be a punch below the belt, at least from the fandom’s perspective.

Cate Blanchett

Still, the gaming franchise’s fandom is beyond excited for the upcoming adaptation. Jamie Lee Curtis, whose courtesy brought us the first glimpse of Cate Blanchett as Lilith, was the fandom’s number one choice for the role of Dr. Tanner. Kevin Hart’s Roland, for example, is a polar opposite of the highly energetic type of roles the actor’s comfortable with, so we might be in for a surprise. We got used to seeing Kevin saving the day in his own way, but playing a quiet-type hero might reveal the side of him we still haven’t seen. In the end, the movie’s release will reveal all the secrets, and we’ll have to wait for 2022 for another Borderlands experience.