Eli Roth Blames Studio Cuts for Borderlands Film Flop

The 2024 film adaptation of the video‑game series Borderlands, directed by Eli Roth, was a commercial and critical failure. With a production budget of about $115 million, plus roughly $30 million in marketing and distribution costs, the movie earned only $33 million worldwide, resulting in a loss of close to $80 million. Critics gave it a Rotten Tomatoes score that started at 0 % and barely rose to 10 %, and audiences responded similarly.

Roth explained that studio executives forced the film into a PG‑13 rating, removing the extreme violence that fans of the game expected. He said the movie ended up trying to please everyone – “it’s not a kids’ movie, but it’s trying to appeal to everybody” – and consequently satisfied no one. The experience led Roth to pursue a fully independent horror project, Ice Cream Man, which will be released without a restrictive rating.

The story has been reported in outlets across the United States, the Netherlands and Australia, highlighting the broader industry tension between big‑budget adaptations and creative control.