Take-Two Interactive boss insists ‘disappointing’ Borderlands movie didn’t impact game sales

Despite not performing well at the box office, the ‘Borderlands’ movie’s poor performance hasn’t had a negative impact on sales of the games.

Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick says the “disappointing” ‘Borderlands’ film ironically might have “helped” with sales of the game.

The 2024 big-screen adaptation of the shooter games – which are published by Take-Two subsidiary 2K – bombed at the box office earning an abysmal $33 million, but it turns out it didn’t put people off playing the games in the franchise.

Zelnick told IGN: “Obviously that movie was disappointing.

“That said, it actually sold more catalogue. So, I don’t think it hurt at all, if anything I think it may have helped a little bit. It does highlight something that I’ve spoken about many times which is the difficulty of bringing our intellectual property to another medium.”

Eli Roth’s film stars the likes of Cate Blanchett, Jamie Lee Curtis and Kevin Hart.

Roth previously suggested that the flick would appeal to both newcomers and “hardcore gamers”.

The filmmaker told Collider: “You do not have to have played the game to enjoy the film.

“I wanted, you know, ‘Fifth Element’, ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’, something totally fun. Like with ‘Tomb Raider’ if you didn’t play the game you could still enjoy the movie. We’ve been able to craft a story with all kinds of Easter Eggs for hardcore gamers, but also a movie that’s accessible for fans.”

The director also expressed a desire to make more than just a “great video game adaptation”.

He said: “We want to make a great science-fiction movie.

“We don’t just want to make a great video game adaptation. We want it to be a great sci-fi movie period… we want this to be a gateway drug for the non-Borderlands fans.

“The great thing about the game is there’s so much to it that you’re telling 80 hours of story and people can live in the world. We have to create a different experience that has to be thrilling in a different way and has all the things that the fans love.”