“COVID Madness” Drove Cate Blanchett to ‌Star in ‘Borderlands'

We were wondering how Eli Roth’s “Borderlands” managed to cast Cate Blanchett, in her first video game movie adaptation, and now we have an answer.

In a new interview with Empire, Blanchett blames “COVID madness” for leading her to accept a role in Roth’s film. Apparently, she spent “a lot of time in the garden” during lockdown, “using the chainsaw a little too freely.” When Roth reached out to Blanchett, her terrified husband, disturbed by Blanchett using the chainsaw with reckless abandon, told her, “This film could save your life.”

That’s Blanchett’s explanation and she’s sticking with it.

Roth co-wrote “Borderlands” with Craig Mazin (“The Last of Us”), and it’s been in post-production hell for quite some time. It’s finally set for release on August 9, almost three years since production initially started on the film. Filming had originally wrapped on the film in June of 2021 and then she went straight into production for “TÁR.”

Reshoots for “Borderlands” happened in early Summer 2022 with Gary Ross hired for rewrites. The movie was test-screened in November and that led to Lionsgate calling for more work to be done on the film.

In January 2023, there was a report that Roth had been replaced by Tim Miller (“Deadpool”) for additional reshoots on the film, with Zak Olkewicz scribing new pages for Miller. Then it was rumored that original screenwriter Mazin had removed his name from the project, and he would be going under the pseudonym Joe Crombie. Mazin has denied this, but his name isn’t attached to the movie anymore.

Other writers who were hired to work on the film Include Aaron Berg, Oren Uziel, Juel Taylor, Tony Rettenmaier, Zak Olkewicz, Chris Bremner and … Sam Levinson!

The rest of the “Borderlands” cast includes Jack Black, Kevin Hart and Jamie Lee Curtis. Roth is now starting to get interviewed about the film, and I’m sure he’ll be asked about the tumultuous journey this film has had. How will he spin it?