
When the Borderlands movie bombed on the world stage, it barely managed to scrape back its marketing budget, let alone what was spent securing the likes of Cate Blanchett and Jack Black. But Take-Two Interactive ZEO, Strauss Zelnick, doesn't think it did lasting damage to the video game franchise from which it was adapted.
Zelnick spoke to IGN ahead of the company's Q2 earnings call today. While he admitted "obviously that movie was disappointing," he prefers to focus on the fact that it "actually sold more catalogue". Still, the head honcho isn't worried, believing the Borderlands IP to be resilient: "I don't think it hurt at all, if anything I think it may have helped a little bit. It highlights something that I've spoken about many times: the difficulty of bringing our intellectual property to another medium."
In case you missed it, Randy Pitchford, founder and CEO of Gearbox Software, the developer behind Borderlands, memorably compared the studio, following the movie's abysmal launch, to The Beatles, insisting that even arguably the greatest band of all time only had about a 25% hit rate.
Has the Borderlands franchise's good name been tarnished by association with the movie's poor reception? Let us know in the comments section below.
[source ign.com]
Comments 17
Randy said what about The Beatles?! HE CAN'T KEEP GETTING AWAY WITH IT
Certainly a way to cope with it
Riiiiiiight... like when you accident walk into a wall or door and someone sees so you play it off like it didn't even hurt or you meant to do it for the laughs. Then you go and hide and cry the pain away lol.
Nah it won't hurt the games any more than tiny Tina's wonderWTF did (personal opinion.) Nobody expected the movie to be an academy award winner and it was what I expected..a silly sci-fi flick with deliberately hammy acting and decent effects. B-movie classic to go with my star crash,battle beyond the stars and death race 2000 section on my wall of shame..
Well, it certainly hurts me reading bs like that.
i can’t believe it even had a movie tbh
Zelnick saying it didn’t hurt just shows how little Takes-Two respects their own IP. If someone took an IP of mine, even if it was me, and butchered it the way this was and then it bombing the way it did, I would be devastated and would need to reevaluate the way I utilize the IP. Respect the IP and respect the fans that made the IP become the hit it was.
This doesn't say much for the Borderlands franchise then...
@Odium fair point for someone reasonable, but don't forgot, this is Randy. He gladly handed the IP over on a silver platter and took every opportunity to play up his role as a consultant, including awkward set visits. Then when the movie flopped, he used it as an excuse to diss the movie and promote Borderlands 4. The man keeps it classy 😆.
The man is talking about the film's economic affect to the franchise, which didn't hurt the business, in relation to the fiscal call he'll soon be making. Getting annoyed by taking the comment out of context and adding extra meaning to it is pointless.
@Loamy my mistake, that’s what I get for skimming the article. I don’t know if that makes it better or worse, for me. On the one hand, it’s not Randy insulting his own child, but on the other it’s the CEO of Take-Two not caring about one of their biggest IPs. I suppose it would have been worse coming from Randy, but it’s still not great, in my opinion.
@Odium how exactly have you come to the conclusion that the CEO doesn't care about Borderlands when he's specifically and exclusively talking about the actual financial impact of the film to the franchise, when asked the question?
Did they use other companies money to fund the movie cough cough Aliens Colonial Marines to Borderlands 2
@riceNpea commenter is making the not unreasonable assumption the CEO being so flippant about his intellectual property being a bit of a laughing stock makes it seem a little bit like he doesn't care about it. Yes, he's speaking about the financials but a poor financial return typically reflects something's overall lack of viability/popularity. His nonchalance could be read as betraying a lack of pride is all.
You could also see it as him standing by the games in spite of this cinematic setback. So there's that.
But mainly I think we're all just having a bit of fun trashing a movie whose creators made absolutely braindead decisions along the way and you probably shouldn't take it too serious.
I LOVED the film! It was great fun and instantly bought it when it was in digital. No regrets, watched it about three or four times now.
@zupertramp you say so yourself, the OP is making assumptions. He's actually saying the CEO doesn't care. Amd youre saying hes nonchelant. There's simply no evidence of this, its all based on nothing more than a personal feeling to fit a perception. Certainly not based on the context of what was said in response to a question asked. In real terms, it's quite conceivable that the film's poor finacial result did not affect the franchise as a whole detrimentally.
The Borderlands movie was the only movie I saw in theatres this summer and it was fun for what it was. At least it got people talking about the franchise again.
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