The Borderlands movie finally hit theaters this past weekend and quickly became one of the worst-reviewed movies of 2024. So it’s probably not surprising that Borderlands is bombing hard at the box office and might end up being the biggest flop of the year.
Borderlands, out now in theaters, has received mostly negative reviews and debuted on Rotten Tomatoes with a horrific O%, which has since increased to 9%. The PG-13 live-action adaption of Gearbox’s popular sci-fi FPS franchise has been criticized for bad action, unfunny jokes, and a bizarre cast led by horror director Eli Roth. And after its first big opening weekend, Borderlands made less than $17 million globally. Yikes.
As reported by Variety, Lionsgate’s Borderlands movie landed in theaters at number four, behind Twisters, It Ends With Us, and the newest Deadpool film. In the United States, Borderlands brought in just $8.8 million from over 3,000 theaters, which makes it one of the worst opening weekends for a video game movie in a long time.
To put that number in perspective, Assassin’s Creed, Angry Birds 2, and the first Hitman adaptation all made more than Borderlands in their first weekends at the box office. (Borderlands had the added advantage of IMAX screens, which cost more and tend to help modern tent poles pull in bigger returns.)
Outside the US, Borderlands was a bigger flop, earning just $7.7 million from foreign theaters. Add it all up and Borderlands made just $16.5 million after its opening weekend. It’s not a great start for a movie that reportedly cost around $150 million to produce and market.
Most big blockbusters tend to make a ton of money in the first weekend or so and then drop-off happens. Considering how little Borderlands has made so far and how bad reviews have been, it’s very possible that we might see the new video game film make less than $5 million globally next weekend which would be pretty embarrassing for Lionsgate. Video game adaptions are hot right now in Hollywood and yet, Borderlands has failed to connect with anyone it seems.
Let’s all take bets on how quickly this thing arrives on streaming as its box office returns get smaller and smaller in the coming weeks.
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