Eli Roth’s live-action film adaptation of the video game Borderlands has found its lead actress.
Lionsgate announced on Thursday that Cate Blanchett officially closed a deal to play the movie’s main character, Lilith, a siren and legendary thief equipped with magical skills.
The project reunites Blanchett with Roth after starring alongside Jack Black in the director’s 2018 dark fantasy comedy flick, The House with a Clock in Its Walls.
“I’m so lucky to have the amazing Cate Blanchett starring in Borderlands. We had the most incredible collaboration together on The House with a Clock in Its Walls, and I believe there’s nothing she can’t do,” Roth said in the press release announcing the actress’ casting. “From drama to comedy and now action, Cate makes every scene sing. Working with her is truly a director’s dream come true, and I feel so fortunate that I get to do it again on an even bigger scale. Everyone brings their A-game to work with Cate, and I know together we’re going to create another iconic character in her already storied career.”
A lot of people who have played the video game think that Blanchett is a perfect choice for the role of Lilith appearance-wise.
I think she’s physically a good choice though. Facial structure wise. We can see if she can display emotion
— Jonathan Common (@jonathan_common) May 29, 2020
Yeah I can see the resemblance
— CSord (@CSordsmen) May 28, 2020
But some fans have issues about Blanchett’s age, commenting that Lilith should be played by a younger actress.
I love Cate Blanchett. She is a great actress… But Lilith should be younger.
— Gunslinger (@Rastaman2303) May 28, 2020
Cate Blanchett is too old to play Lilith from Borderlands. They should have found a young actress that is unknown.
— selw0nk (@selw0nk) May 28, 2020
She’s a great actress but how old is Lilith going to be ???
— Zainab Khan (@ZnabbyKhan) May 28, 2020
There are a number of fans, on the other hand, that don’t see any problem with the actress’ age. After all, Lilith’s age in the video game is not really clear.
Y’all complaining about how “she’s too old” like makeup doesn’t exist, PLUS we don’t actually know Lilith’s canon age. Maybe Sirens don’t physically age as much.
But I think she’s PERFECT!— ᚼᚱᛅᚠᚾ | Raven | #OdinIsWithUs (@TwilitWolf13) May 28, 2020
Y’all talking about how she’s too old to play Lilith but forget that we don’t know how old Lilith is and its been 12 years in between Bl1 and BL3 so she’s not young.
— Emma (@universaltrashh) May 28, 2020
Not a bad choice. She’s a bit old to be Lilith, but they can deage her in some way.
— Nitro-Spider (@NitroSpider04) May 28, 2020
Launched in 2009, Borderlands is a role-playing first-person shooter game created and developed by Gearbox Software and published by Take-Two Interactive Software’s 2K label. The game is set on the planet of Pandora, which has been abandoned by a mega-corporation prior to the game events. There are already three installments in the video game series, with the most recent, Borderlands 3, released last September. In addition to the main three installments, the franchise has also released five spinoff games, soundtracks, comic series, novels, and tabletop games.
The film will be produced by Avi and Ari Arad through their Arad Productions banner, along with Erik Feig through his Picturestart label. Also executive producing are Gearbox Software CEO Randy Pitchford and Take-Two Interactive’s CEO Strauss Zelnick. Feig oversees the project’s development, including the latest draft of the screenplay by Emmy-winning screenwriter Craig Mazin.
Blanchett currently stars in the Hulu miniseries Mrs. America, which she also executive produces. She will be next seen in James Gray’s drama film Armageddon Time and Adam McKay’s comedy flick Don’t Look Up.