After working together on 2018's fantasy comedy The House with a Clock in Its Walls, Jack Black will reunite with Cate Blanchett and director Eli Roth for Lionsgate's Borderlands movie, in which he will voice the persistently sarcastic robot Claptrap, who isn’t all that invested in the survival of his teammates.
The film is based on the bestselling video game of the same name, and two-time Oscar winner Blanchett will star as the game's legendary thief, Lilith. Meanwhile, Black's Jumanji co-star Kevin Hart will play skilled soldier Roland, and Jamie Lee Curtis will play the archeologist Tannis, as Collider first reported.
Roth is directing from a script by Craig Mazin (Chernobyl), whjile Avi Arad and Ari Arad are producing the Borderlands movie via their Arad Productions banner along with Erik Feig of Picturestart. Lionsgate is high on the project, as the video game series has sold more than 68 million units since launching in 2009. Gearbox founder Randy Pitchford will executive produce the film with Strauss Zelnick of Take-Two Interactive, which owns the game's publisher 2K.
“I am so excited to reunite with Jack, this time in the recording booth. Claptrap is the funniest character in the game, and Jack is perfect to bring him to the big screen," Roth said in a statement.
“We couldn’t have been more in sync with our filmmakers and casting executives as we approached this role. It’s one of the biggest no-brainer casting decisions we’ve ever made," added Lionsgate's Nathan Kahane. "Everyone who’s ever played the game knows Jack is perfect for this part. We’re thrilled he will add his endless comic energy and voice to our film -- he’ll bring so much to the movie.”
It's kind of cool that Roth is getting the House band back together again after that film opened atop the box office en route to grossing more than $130 million worldwide. Black and Hart are also cornerstones of Sony's Jumanji franchise, which has taken in $1.7 billion worldwide, and it's encouraging to see Lionsgate pony up for legit movie stars given the popularity of the Borderlands game franchise.
Black recently appeared in Gus Van Sant's drama Don't Worry He Won't Get Far on Foot as well as the indie movie The Polka King, which he also produced. The charismatic actor has also wrapped Richard Linklater's animated family film Apollo 10½: A Space Age Adventure, which is expected to debut on Netflix later this year, and as a producer, he has BenDavid Grabinski's comedic thriller Happily on the horizon. Black is represented by WME.