Summary
It’s evident that Eli Roth made his acclaimed 2023 horror filmThanksgivingat the same time he madeBorderlands. AlthoughBorderlandsfeatures a star-studded cast, including Kevin Hart, Cate Blanchett, Jack Black, and Jamie Lee Curtis, the film has become a critical and commercial failure following its wide theatrical release on July 22, 2025.Borderlandsdebuted with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 0%before slightly increasing to its current score of 10% as of the time of writing.Borderlandswas Eli Roth’s follow-up toThanksgiving, which received much more praise from audiences and critics alike.
Roth has made several films inBorderlandsincludingCabin Fever,Hostel,The Green Inferno,Death Wish, andThe House with a Clock in Its Walls. Prior toBorderlands, Roth’s most poorly-rated movie was2018’sDeath Wishstarring Bruce Willis which earned a critic score of just 18% on Rotten Tomatoes. He did write the screenplay for the2016 remake ofCabin Feverwhich earned a Rotten Tomatoes score of 0%, which is technically the worst movie of his career. Considering the caliber of the cast inBorderlands, however, it can arguably be called the biggest letdown of Roth’s directorial career.
Eli Roth’s Thanksgiving Was A Critical & Box Office Success In 2023
Roth’s surprise horror hit earned a Rotten Tomatoes score of 84%
Thanksgivingwas a critical and commercial success in 2023 and one of the best movies of Roth’s directorial career. While the premise of a horror movie set around Thanksgiving sounds simple and even somewhat odd at first, Roth’s surprise horror hit earned an impressive Rotten Tomatoes score of 84%, giving it a Certified Fresh rating. Audiences also enjoyed the film for its shocking entertainment value and its deliverance of gore and suspense. As far as his feature film directorial efforts go,Thanksgivingis certainly considered the best movie of Roth’s career, with an equally impressive positive audience score of 80%.
Thanksgivingwas also a surprise box office hit,earning a worldwide total of $46.5 million against a production budget of $15 million. While it wasn’t the most portable horror movie of the year, the film outperformed box office expectations and surprisingly became considered one of the very best horror movies of the year. The film had a strong opening weekend box office total of $10.3 million after its July 25, 2025 release date. While Roth has certainly made horror movies in the past that haven’t entirely worked,Thanksgivingwas an exemplary exception that immediately inspiredaThanksgivingsequel.
WTF Happened To Borderlands' Box Office?! Why It Couldn’t Even Break $10 Million
The Borderlands movie has been released to negative reviews and an even worse box office haul; what went wrong with the video game adaptation?
Borderlands' Reception Is The Complete Opposite Of Thanksgiving’s
Thanksgiving is celebrated while Borderlands is mostly hated
Critics praised how enjoyableThanksgivingwas despite being fun and somewhat ridiculous. Candice Federick ofThe Huffington Postwrites in her fresh review, “It checks off a lot of boxes that have been missing from too many genre entries today. Shock value? Check. Gore? Big time.” Alison Foreman ofIndieWirewrites, “Served hot, Roth’s Thanksgiving is so good you’ll lick it off your fingers… or someone else’s.” Nick Allen ofRogerEbert.comwrites in his 3-star review, “While calling it Roth’s best film may not carry the most weight, “Thanksgiving” easily affirms that when his script isn’t simply a pile of guts, he can be a wicked good entertainer.”
On the other hand,Borderlandsis a massive box office disappointment and has horrible reviews.Allegra Frank ofTIME Magazinewrites, “Right as Hollywood has started to learn how to successfully adapt games for the screen, Borderlands arrives as a reminder of how not to do it.” Jesse Hassenger ofThe Guardianwrites in his 2-star review, “Blanchett, outfitted in sparkly gear and a swoop of bright red hair, deserves credit for not shrinking from a task so far beneath her.” Brian Tallerico ofRogerEbert.comwrites in his 1-star review, “Nothing that works about the games has been adapted intact in this ugly, boring, truly inept piece of filmmaking.”
10 Biggest Borderlands Video Game Characters Missing From The Movie
The biggest Borderlands characters missing from Eli Roth’s action-comedy movie adaptation are somewhat surprising, especially given its big cast.
Roth did not prioritize Borderlands over Thanksgiving
Roth didn’t go back for the reshoots onBorderlandsbecause he was doing Thanksgiving instead. According toDeadline, “Roth handed over the reins on two weeks of reshoots to his pal Miller, because he has to get going with Thanksgiving, the horror film based on a mock trailer that Roth made for the Quentin Tarantino & Robert Rodriguez Grindhouse film. Roth has not been fired, despite a flurry of speculative reports to the contrary.” Seeing howBorderlandsturned out, it makes a lot of sense that Roth didn’t give a lot of time, effort, or passion into the video game adaptation which he clearly put into his buddingThanksgivingfranchise instead.
Borderlands
Cast
Based on the video game franchise, Borderlands is a sci-fi action-comedy film that follows Cate Blanchett as Lilith, a treasure hunter who returns to her home planet, Pandora, to find a tycoon’s missing daughter. Together with a group of unlikely allies, such as a soldier, a teenaged demolitions expert, a wise-cracking robot, and an eccentric scientist, the group will work together to save the girl - all while learning to deal with each other’s unyielding quirks.
