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Lionsgate has begun development of a tentpole movie based on the "Borderlands" role-playing shooter video game series.

"Spider-Man" producers Avi and Ari Arad are behind this film adaptation of the games which are set on Pandora, a dusty planet abandoned by a mega-corporation prior to the game events. There are also reports of an ancient vault full of advanced alien weapons technology being hidden somewhere on the planet.

Launched in 2009, more than 26 million copies of the game have shipped worldwide. Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Co-Chairs Rob Friedman and Patrick Wachsberger say in a statement: "The 'Borderlands' games don't pull any punches, and we'll make the movie with the same in-your-face attitude that has made the series a blockbuster mega-franchise.”

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Avi Arad, Ari Arad and Erik Feig will produce the latest big screen re-imagining from the gaming world.

Cabin Fever and Hostel director Eli Roth is set to direct the movie adaptation of Borderlands, the action video game franchise, for Lionsgate.

Emmy-winning screenwriter Craig Mazin penned the script for the project, to be produced by producers Avi Arad and Ari Arad through their Arad Productions banner, and Erik Feig, who oversaw development, through Picturestart. The action RPG shooter franchise from developer Gearbox Software and publisher 2K most recently unveiled the Borderlands 3 version in September 2019.

“I’m so excited to dive into the world of Borderlands, and I could not be doing it with a better script, producing team and studio. I have a long, successful history with Lionsgate — I feel like we have grown up together and that everything in my directing career has led to a project of this scale and ambition," Roth said in a statement.

The Borderlands movie is the latest video game adaptation after Mortal Kombat, The Angry Birds Movie, Pokemon: Detective Pikachu and Sonic the Hedgehog made it to the big screen and streaming services from the gaming world. Lionsgate's Borderlands re-imagining will be executive produced by Randy Pitchford and Strauss Zelnick.

"With Eli's vision and Craig's screenplay, we believe we have cracked the code on bringing the anarchic world of Borderlands to the big screen in a big way that will be a fresh, compelling and cinematic event for moviegoers and fans of the game," said Nathan Kahane, president of the Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, in his own statement.

Roth's recent movie credits include The House with a Clock in Its Walls, starring Cate Blanchett and Jack Black for Amblin, and Death Wish, starring Bruce Willis for MGM and Annapurna Pictures. He earlier directed Cabin Fever and Knock Knock for Lionsgate.

Roth is repped by WME

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It’s game on for Cate Blanchett. Sources tell Variety the Oscar-winning actress is in talks to star as Lilith in Lionsgate’s “Borderlands,” an adaptation of the popular video game. Lionsgate had no comment.

Eli Roth is directing with Avi and Ari Arad producing through Arad Prods along with Erik Feig, who is also producing via his Picturestart banner. Craig Mazin, who won an Emmy for writing “Chernobyl,” has written the latest screenplay draft.

If a deal is completed, it’s another major win for the studio in recent weeks following the news they would team with Francis Lawrence on a prequel in the “Hunger Games” franchise as well as bringing on Eric Warren Singer to pen the next installment in the “Now You See Me” series.

“Borderlands,” launched in 2009, is a role-playing first-person shooter game created and developed by Gearbox Software and published by Take-Two Interactive Software’s 2K label. The game is set on the frontier of a sci-fi universe — the planet of Pandora — which has been abandoned by a mega-corporation prior to the game events. The series has sold more than 57 million units worldwide. The most recent installment, “Borderlands 3,” was released last September.

Lilith is one of the main protagonists in the franchise, and one of the playable characters in the first “Borderlands” game. She is one of only six women in the galaxy that belong to the powerful “siren” class, wielding incredible, superhuman powers.

The film’s executive producers are Randy Pitchford, executive producer of the “Borderlands” video game franchise and founder of Gearbox Software, and Strauss Zelnick, chairman and CEO of Take-Two Interactive.

James Myers and Aaron Edmonds are overseeing the project on behalf of Lionsgate. Emmy Yu is overseeing the film for Arad Productions. Lucy Kitada will oversee the project for Picturestart.

Blanchett can currently be seen in the acclaimed FX miniseries “Mrs. America,” which marks her first cable TV gig. She was also seen in “Where’d You Go Bernadette?,” which earned her a Golden Globe nomination. Most recently, Blanchett was filming the Guillermo del Toro thriller “Nightmare Alley” with Bradley Cooper until production was stalled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

She is repped by CAA and RGM Artists.

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