Randy Pitchford is posting through it after Borderlands bombs bad

Movies & TVBorderlandsRandy Pitchford is posting through it after Borderlands bombs badWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

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(Image credit: Lionsgate)

The cast of Borderlands stare down a manhole and into the camera.

The Borderlands film is out, and in case you somehow missed the news,itreallysucks. Despite the concerns of Joshua Wolens, it also looks well on its way to becoming a bonafide box office bomb, earning just$8.8 millionover its opening weekend in the US ($16.5 million globally), which is not great for a film that cost around $150 million to make.

It’s hard to take anything good from that outcome, but Gearbox founder Randy Pitchford has found an upside.

(Image credit: Randy Pitchford (Twitter))

So what you’re saying is: You like what my friends and I do with our Borderlands video games even more than you like what some of the biggest and best cast and crew of film makers on the planet have done. I’m super flattered! We’re working extra hard four you on what’s next….

“So what you’re saying is: You like what my friends and I do with our Borderlands videogames even more than you like what some of the biggest and best cast and crew of film makers on the planet have done,” Pitchfordtweetedover the weekend. “I’m super flattered! We’re working extra hard four you on what’s next.”

(I assume that “four” is not a misspelling but rather a bit of wordplay teasing theall-but-confirmed Borderlands 4.)

He repeated the sentiment in areply-tweeta little later: “I’m actually pretty fucking flattered that people are essentially saying that my team and I are doing a better job building characters and telling stories and making entertainment than this un-fucking-believable cast and crew of some of the biggest and best film makers on the planet. I am super happy to live in that world.”

And once more, with feeling:

(Image credit: Randy Pitchford (Twitter))

That’s definitely one way to look at it, and while it’s not a perspective I would’ve considered, I have to admit there’s some validity to it, if you’re willing to squint and tilt your head a bit. Film and games are very different forms of media, and what works for one isn’t necessarily going to translate well to the other. The plethora of bad game-based movies is ample evidence of that: A paper-thin excuse to mindlessly blow shit up can work very well for a videogame (see: Borderlands), but it’s probably not going to hold up for a couple hours on the big screen (see: Borderlands).

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Pitchford rejected suggestions that an R rating, which is more typical of Roth’s work, rather than the PG-13 the film ultimately got, would’ve made any difference.

“I love some gore in the games—I actively work on that!” hetweeted. “But I cannot figure out what mind needs that in order to parse a story as ‘good’ as if it’s not possible to be ‘good’ unless there’s a dick or an organ coming out of a body from violence or a bunch of ‘fucks’ uttered. It’s kind of an absurd argument to me.”

(Image credit: Randy Pitchford (Twitter))

At the same time, he seemed to acknowledge in anothertweetthat the movie was not quite as good as it could have been, because scenes that would’ve provided proper insight into characterization and motivations ended up on the cutting room floor. “They were great scenes, but I think in post with editors, producers and directors they felt the pace needed to stay quick,” Pitchford wrote in response to a user who said the film’s characters lacked the depth of those in the games.

“I hope some of the deleted scenes can come out at some point. I think, over all, the decisions were correct given what they had to work with. But it’s interesting to note that there was intention in the script and with what was shot to do what your instincts suggested would’ve been nice to have. Film making is crazy.”

(Image credit: Randy Pitchford (Twitter))

Dare to dream and all that, but given the inevitability of second-weekend ticket sales dropoff, I’d guess the odds of Borderlands 2 are not great. Probably for the best.

TOPICSGearbox Software

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