Borderlands film first look shows red-haired Cate Blanchett staring into a manhole

Two new photos from the upcoming Borderlands film have been released.

The photos, shared by People, both feature the Academy Award-winning Cate Blanchett – with some very enviable red hair – as infamous outlaw Lilith.

The first photo shows Lilith on her own, looking pretty close to her in-game character.

In the second photo, meanwhile, Blanchett is joined by her castmates as they all stare down into a manhole. It is quite reminiscent of the artwork from 2003 movie Holes.

Blancett is joined by Kevin Hart as soldier Roland, Ariana Greenblatt as pre-teen demolitionist Tiny Tina, Florian Munteanu as Tina’s bodyguard Krieg, Jamie Lee Curtis as scientist Tannis and Jack Black as (the voice of) robot Claptrap.

“The fate of the universe could be in their hands – but they’ll be fighting for something more: each other,” reads a synopsis of the upcoming film, which is scheduled to release on 9th August.

This Borderlands adaptation has a bit of a rocky history. A Borderlands film was first announced back in 2015 – then little happened for five years.

In 2020, Gearbox announced Hostel director Eli Roth would direct the adaptation from a script by Craig Mazin, who is best known now for his work on The Last of Us and Chernobyl. A “fresh, compelling and cinematic event for moviegoers and fans of the game” was promised.

Since the principal photography wrapped, the project has seen other writers brought on board to fiddle with the script in some fashion. Deadpool film director Tim Miller was confirmed to have taken over from Roth – who had moved on to other projects – when reshoots began.

Then, last year, it was reported that Mazin had tried to distance himself from the Borderlands adaptation by using a pseudonym in place of his actual name.

Mazin has since disputed this report, stating it is “false”.

“I am not a credited writer on the film, so I cannot claim any kind of authorship of ‘Borderlands,’ much less ‘co-writing,'” Mazin said. “I did see the report about the pseudonym, which is false. I did not use a pseudonym. If the name in question is indeed a pseudonym, all I can say is… it’s not mine.”