'Borderlands' Disappoints at the Box Office With $8.8 Million Debut, After Critics Called the Film a 'Calamity'

Borderlands offered action and an A-list ensemble to theaters, but it received little attention.

The action-adventure premiered in fourth place at the box office this weekend, with an estimated $8.8 million from 3,125 locations, according to Comscore.

The Lionsgate release earned an average of only $2,816 per site, a significant disappointment given that the film cost an estimated $110-$120 million to produce, plus millions more in marketing costs.

Borderlands is based on the same-named video game franchise and follows a ragged group of misfits on a mission to save a lost girl who holds the secret to unimaginable power.

The film stars Oscar winners Cate Blanchett and Jamie Lee Curtis, as well as Kevin Hart, Edgar Ramírez, Ariana Greenblatt, Florian Munteanu, Gina Gershon, and Jack Black.
Borderlands, directed and co-written by horror film legend Eli Roth, garnered an unsettling "D+" CinemaScore from viewers.

Critics were equally underwhelmed, giving the picture a 10% RottenTomatoes rating.

Justin Clark of Slant magazine criticized the film, calling it "misguided" and full of "mind-boggling choices."

Roger Moore from Roger's Movie Nation described the picture as a "calamity of a sci-fi cartoon."

According to Jarrod Jones of The AV Club, the resulting picture is "a deeply compromised final cut that Lionsgate has chucked into theaters like a live grenade."

Fortunately, newcomer It Ends With Us had considerably better news this weekend. The love drama premiered in second place after grossing an estimated $50 million.

Justin Baldoni, who previously appeared in Jane the Virgin, directs and stars in the film, together with Blake Lively, the primary actress and producer.

Produced on a rumored $25 million budget, the Sony release made $24.2 million on Friday, $13.7 million on Saturday, and a projected $12 million on Sunday from 3,611 theaters, according to Comscore.

Adapted from Colleen Hoover's best-selling novel of the same name, the film depicts the story of a lady who overcomes a tragic childhood to start a new life with a neurosurgeon. However, after seeing domestic abuse throughout her parents' marriage, she finds herself in a toxic relationship.

Despite dismal reviews from critics and rumors of conflict on the set between Lively and Baldoni, the picture received an amazing "A-" CinemaScore.

TikTok users and female moviegoers "fueled initial ticket sales," Variety reported.

Elsewhere this weekend, Deadpool & Wolverine continues to perform well, grossing $54.1 million in its third weekend for another first-place finish. To far, the film has grossed $494.3 million domestically.

As previously indicated, It Ends With Us debuted in second place. Twisters finished third with $15 million from Friday to Sunday in its fourth weekend in theaters.

Borderlands finished fourth, with Despicable Me 4 rounding out the top five with $8 million in its sixth weekend.


sourced from box office mojo.