Two-time Golden Globe winner Jamie Lee Curtis is joining Cate Blanchett and Kevin Hart in director Eli Roth’s adaptation of the bestselling video game Borderlands for Lionsgate, the studio announced today. The announcement was made by Nathan Kahane, president of the Lionsgate Motion Picture Group.
Jamie Lee Curtis will play 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.
“Working with the iconic Jamie Lee Curtis has been a life long dream of mine, and I am so excited for her to bring her humor, warmth and brilliance to the role of Tannis,” said Roth.
Kahane said, “The kind of talent we’ve been able to bring together for Borderlands is a testament to the incredible script that Craig wrote and Eli’s vision for Pandora. Jamie is unique in that her characters have depth and gravitas, but are also always hugely entertaining – she commands the screen.
“At this point, Jamie is like family to us – after bringing so much to Knives Out and hosting last summer’s ‘Lionsgate Live’ fundraiser to help theater workers, we could not be more thrilled to be working with her again.”
Based on the best-selling PC and console gaming experience from developer Gearbox Software and publisher 2K, Borderlands is one of the world’s most successful video game franchises, with more than 66 million units sold-in worldwide, including over 24 million units of Borderlands 2, which is the highest-selling title in the history of 2K.
The most recent installment, Borderlands 3, which launched in September 2019 and was recently released for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, has sold-in more than 11 million units worldwide and was honored with the award for Best Multiplayer Game at Gamescom 2019 and Best Ongoing Game at Gamescom 2020.
The latest draft of the screenplay is by the two-time Emmy-winning screenwriter Craig Mazin. Avi Arad and Ari Arad are producing through their Arad Productions banner, with Erik Feig also producing through PICTURESTART.
The film’s executive producers are Randy Pitchford, executive producer of the Borderlands video game franchise and founder of the Gearbox Entertainment Company, 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 and Royce Reeves- Darby are overseeing the project for PICTURESTART.
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