The Borderlands movie adaptation has added another cast member to its roster. Janina Gavankar, known for her roles in The Way Back and The Morning Show, has joined the star-studded cast of the official adaptation of the extremely popular game series. She will be seen playing the role of Commander Knoxx, a new character being introduced in the movie.
While the details of her role are being kept under wraps, it has been confirmed that Gavankar’s character will have some relation to one of the existing characters from the games. Gearbox Software co-founder and CEO Randy Pitchford stated in a tweet that she will portray the daughter of General Knoxx, the star of The Secret Armory of General Knoxx downloadable content pack for the first Borderlands game. Commander Knoxx will join the “Atlas' private army, the Crimson Lance”.
The Borderlands movie was first confirmed in 2015, but it had been postponed until an official announcement for the project was made in February 2020. Production has already begun and several famous actors have been associated with the Borderlands film already. Before the news of Gavankar coming on board, it had been confirmed that the movie will include Cate Blanchett as Lilith, Kevin Hart as Roland, Jamie Lee Curtis as Tannis, Ariana Greenblatt as Tiny Tina, Florian Munteanu as Krieg, Edgar Ramirez as Atlas, Olivier Richters as Krom, and Jack Black as Claptrap.
An official Borderlands synopsis has been released for the film, which is being directed by Eli Roth and written by Craig Mazin, who brought the Chernobyl mini-series to life. It seems like while the film is an adaptation of the game series, it won’t be sticking entirely to the same plot. The film will focus on Lilith forming an alliance with the other characters to fight the evils in the world and find Atlas’ missing daughter, who could potentially be the key to “unimaginable power.” However, Atlas isn’t actually a character in the games but is instead the name of a corporation. Additionally, the characters included in the movie are a mix from the first two games in the Borderlands franchise, which means the film will be focusing on the universe, and not just a specific game.
Apart from Atlas being introduced as a character, it seems like Gavankar’s role is also not the only original one being introduced into the Borderlands franchise through the movie. Haley Bennett has been cast in Borderlands in an unnamed role, which has left fans wondering what character she will be playing and whether she would also be playing someone new entirely.
Borderlands is under production at Lionsgate.
Source: Randy Pitchford/Twitter