As we look ahead to what upcoming video game movies and TV shows are on their way, there’s a conversation to be had about the difference between a franchise being well adapted into these mediums and when they have failed. Fallout producer Jeff Gardiner recently spoke to why he thinks Amazon’s Fallout was a success versus Borderlands being a flop, and he makes some solid points.
The current lesson when it comes to video game adaptations is not every big name game is going to be an instant hit. For example, Fallout earned the best one-week viewership ever for an Amazon show when it premiered earlier this year (per Variety), while Borderlands opened a few weeks ago to a dismal opening weekend that sat in the shadow of Deadpool and Wolverine’s continued dominance. Here’s what Gardiner said about the two properties:
You have to have really compelling characters and a narrative that’s pulling you through, and those are also the things I remember most. Like I don’t remember all the rats I fought in turn-based Fallout, where I was like ‘Oh my god, it took me 20 minutes to kill a freaking rat, but I remember stories and elements. And you see that to this day, with the fall TV show being super successful right? And that was because, not even the characters [aside from a couple], but that setting and tone was enough connective tissue and glue for [director] Jonah Nolan and the showrunners to make an amazing series out of. And that speaks very well, because there was another movie released [recently], based on a more action-oriented game, which is a fantastic game - but man, that movie's being pilloried.
When Jeff Gardiner, who has worked on multiple Fallout games throughout his career, including Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, Fallout 4, Fallout 76 and Wastelanders, guested on The Boss Rush Podcast he shared why he thinks the Amazon series was so successful. While he didn’t name Borderlands specifically, it’s the only title he could be speaking to since the podcast was recorded right after the movie’s opening weekend.
Gardiner added the caveat that he hasn't watched the Borderlands movie with his own eyes, and doesn't like to simply take the masses word for things. But if its super low Rotten Tomatoes score after negative reception from critics is to be believed, it didn’t deliver on what audiences would want from a Borderlands movie.
In CinemaBlend’s Borderlands review, Eric Eisenberg gave the movie a 1.5 out of 5 stars, saying simply it’s a “really bad movie” and is a “massive step in the wrong direction” for video game adaptations. Unfortunately, not even the Borderlands cast (which included Cate Blanchett, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Hart, Jack Black and Ariana Greenblatt) could sell audiences.
Borderlands certainly doesn’t mark the first time a video game has been adapted poorly for the big screen. As Gardiner shared on the podcast, he feels there’s a “fine line” between taking a video game’s content not too seriously, but as he shared, taking it not seriously enough either would be a mistake. As he said as well:
I was really honored that Fallout was done so well, because I was nervous… Fallout’s a weird IP. If you don’t know what’s going on in that IP, it’s super weird.
Certainly in the wrong hands, Fallout could have suffered a similar fate to Borderlands. One popular criticism about the movie is it not opting for an R-rating when the game is 18+. Obviously, you can make these comparisons yourself. Fallout is streaming for those with an Amazon subscription, and Borderlands is in theaters and available to rent and buy on digital.
