The makers of the Borderlands movie currently in early development want to include the franchise's fan community in an unorthodox way: by setting up cosplayers as extras and then "killing" them. Movie director Eli Roth made a brief appearance at Gearbox's PAX East panel to put out the word for Borderlands cosplayers everywhere.
This Borderlands movie was only just revealed earlier in February and is set to be directed by Roth, produced by Avi and Ari Arad, and Craig Mazin (Chernobyl) is writing the screenplay. Because it's so early in production, the makers of Borderlands still have plenty to figure out, or they're just not slipping too much information this soon.
Taking the stage at PAX East, Eli Roth may not have revealed any details about the movie, but he was quick to express his excitement over working on it. Roth also gave a nod to the passion found throughout the Borderlands fan community, affectionately referring to is as a "mad, insane family."
While many popular video game franchises have strong fanbases, Roth and the other makers of Borderlands are going even further to recognize that. They're looking to recruit cosplayers as extras in the movie, to play important roles: each cosplayer's background character will be killed off in spectacularly gristly ways, something that the Borderlands games are known for.
However, cosplayers don't need to panic just yet; it's still not clear how they'll be chosen to appear in the movie. It seems likely that a contest of some kind will be announced, either by Gearbox or Lionsgate, but that also may not be the case. Perhaps the filmmakers will directly contact the more prominent Borderlands cosplayers and ask them to participate. Considering that the movie's main cast has yet to be announced, let alone a release date, though there have been some Borderlands plot leaks, it'll probably be a bit of a wait before the production team starts looking for extras.
Still, the early announcement means that hopeful participants can make sure their cosplays are completely on point when the time comes to show them off. So polish off the costumes, and make sure to take plenty of pictures, because sometime in the future Borderlands is going to need some extra talent.
The Borderlands movie is currently in pre-production.
