By Justina Bonilla
Edgar Ramirez has joined the all-star cast of the upcoming film adaption of one of the world’s most popular video games franchises Borderlands.
Ramirez will play Atlas, a weapons manufacturing business titan and is regarded as the universe’s most powerful person. Among the cast of impressive talent alongside Ramirez include Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jack Black and Jamie Lee Curtis. Borderlands will be directed by Eli Roth and written by two-time Emmy-winning screenwriter Craig Mazin.
Among his diverse acting resume, Ramirez is known for his roles in the 2015 remake of Point Break, Gold, and The Undoing. He gained critical acclaim for his portrayal of the iconic fashion designer Gianni Versace in the mini-series American Crime Story. He also recently starred opposite Jennifer Garner in Miguel Arteta’s Yes Day.
“What an incredible honor to have an actor of Edgar’s caliber, talent, and charisma playing opposite Cate Blanchett and this remarkable cast,” Roth shared with Deadline in a statement. “Atlas has to be a truly magnetic personality, someone with charisma and charm but that air of menace underneath it all. I’ve been a fan of Edgar’s since his early performances, and he continues to amaze me with each dramatic turn. We want to create something wild, fun, and very different from anything they’ve seen from Edgar before. I am so, so excited to work with him.”
Part of this highly talented cast is the young up-and-coming talent Ariana Greenblatt. Greenblatt is best known for her role in the Disney TV series Stuck in the Middle from 2016-2018. Among her film credits include Avengers: Infinity War and the upcoming musical In the Heights.
“Ariana is a spectacular new talent in cinema,” Roth also shared in a previous statement with Deadline. “She has already worked with many of my close collaborators, and everyone raves about her. She blew us all away in her audition, and I cannot wait to see her bring the wild, insane and unpredictable Tiny Tina to the big screen. She’s going to blow up on screen like one of Tina’s grenades.”
Lionsgate’s synopsis for Borderlands reads as follows:
Lilith (Blanchett), an infamous outlaw with a mysterious past reluctantly returns to her home planet of Pandora to find the missing daughter of the universe’s most powerful S.O.B., Atlas (Ramirez). Lilith forms an alliance with an unexpected team – Roland (Hart), a former elite mercenary, now desperate for redemption; Tiny Tina (Greenblatt), a feral pre-teen demolitionist; Krieg (Florian Munteanu), Tina’s musclebound, rhetorically challenged protector; Tannis (Curtis), the scientist with a tenuous grip on sanity; and Claptrap (Black), a persistent wiseass robot.
These unlikely heroes must battle alien monsters and dangerous bandits to find and protect the missing girl, who may hold the key to unimaginable power. The fate of the universe could be in their hands – but they’ll be fighting for something more: each other.”
The Borderlands franchise is an action shooter video game with four main games and several expansions. It has internationally sold over 68 million units. The franchise is available for gaming consuls and PCs as a single-player or multiplayer. As a “Vault Hunter,” your goal within Borderlands is to plow your way through an array of enemies as you collect unique weapons to reach a highly prized Vault. Its biggest appeal is the wildly flamboyant characters, from enemies to unlikely allies.
Borderlands started filming on April 1, 2021, in Budapest, Hungary. Lionsgate has announced no official release date.