It might sound bizarre at first blush, but Randy Pitchford, CEO of Gearbox and creator of the Borderlands franchise, had less input in the recent Borderlands movie than he did in the upcoming release of Now You See Me: Now You Don’t. I sat down with Pitchford at Gamescom to talk all things Borderlands 4, and as you can imagine, that chat turned towards the Borderlands movie.
For many, it was a complete failure, even for the most die-hard fans. Randy admitted to me that ‘he liked it’ but stressed that he ‘can’t look at it like anybody else could.’
Here’s the full video interview before you jump in:
Randy Pitchford Spearheads the Magic in Now You See Me: Now You Don’t
Now You See Me: Now You Don’t is the third movie in the series that debuted in 2013. It’s centered around a group of magicians who use their talents to perform heists and mind-blowing stunts, and I learned from Randy Pitchford at Gamescom that he had a massive input in the movie, more than he had in the Borderlands movie.
If we cast back to August 2024, we see the Borderlands movie release to a woeful reception. Today, it boasts a Rotten Tomatoes score of just 10% and a 4.7/10 rating on IMDb. I asked Randy what he’d do if he had full creative license over another attempt to produce a Borderlands movie, but he wasn’t willing to take that seat:
I think that would be a mistake because I’m not a filmmaker. I’ve seen projects where people with IP get full creative and — I’ve been on the other side of it!
I did a James Bond game back in the day with Electronic Arts and we’re two weeks away from shopping, and the James Bond people said, you know, ‘We don’t think James Bond should be so violent. How about we just take all the guns out of the game?’
I don’t want to be that guy. Whoever the experts are in the medium, do the best you can. You definitely know better than me. It’s hard enough as it is.
As I probed, I learned that Pitchford had much more of a hands-on involvement in Now You See Me: Now You Don’t than he did in Lionsgate’s Borderlands movie:
In another life, I’m a magician, and recently with The Magic Castle, which is a club for magicians that I own in Hollywood, the Magic Castle team did all of the magic and magic productions for the upcoming movie, Now You See Me: Now You Don’t.
My involvement in that movie was more profound and deeper and had more effect on both the storytelling and on the result than the effect that I had on Borderlands, which is crazy!
One day, we might get another pass at a Borderlands movie, but for now, fans will need to remain satisfied with the upcoming Borderlands 4, due to be released worldwide on September 12.
Let me know in the Insider Gaming forum what you’re most excited for about Borderlands 4.
For more Insider Gaming coverage, check out the news that Fallout fans noticed a retcon in the TV show
Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
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