Lionsgate has closed a deal for Kevin Hart to star in the upcoming Borderlands movie. Director Eli Roth (The House With a Clock in its Walls, Hostel) is tackling the adaptation of the beloved video game series for the studio. The project was confirmed in February 2020 and has been, somewhat quietly, coming together behind the scenes. Now, the movie has taken one step closer to becoming a reality as Hart has been tapped to take on the role of Roland, a fan-favorite character from the games.

The news was revealed today by Nathan Kahane, President of the Lionsgate Motion Picture Group. Kevin Hart had previously been rumored for the role. Hart joins a cast that already includes Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett (The Lord of the Rings, Thor: Ragnarok), who is on board to play Lilith. Eli Roth had this to say in a statement.

"I'm thrilled to be working with Kevin. Borderlands is a different kind of role for him, and we are excited to thrill audiences with a side of Kevin they've never seen before. He's going to be an amazing Roland."

Kevin Hart has become an increasingly bigger star in Hollywood over the last handful of years. Hart recently starred in such hits has Jumanji: The Next Level and Night School. He has, during his career, has opened ten movies at number one at the box office. His character, Roland, is a skilled ex-soldier turned mercenary. Nathan Kahane had this to say about it in a statement.

"Kevin has been behind some of the world's biggest blockbusters, and our source material is inspired by one of the world's best-selling video games. We love the way our filmmaking team has adapted this story and we couldn't be in better creative hands."

Borderlands is based on the best-selling video game from developer Gearbox Software and publisher 2K. It is one of the world's most successful video game franchises, with more than 66 million copies sold worldwide. Borderlands 2 sold more than 24 million copies alone, making it the highest-selling title in the history of 2K. The most recent installment, Borderlands 3, was released in September 2019 and was recently released for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. It has sold more than 11 million units worldwide, in addition to taking home the award for Best Multiplayer Game at Gamescom 2019 and Best Ongoing Game at Gamescom 2020.

The latest draft of the screenplay by the two-time Emmy-winning screenwriter Craig Mazin, who recently wrote HBO's Chernobyl. Avi Arad and Ari Arad are producing through their Arad Productions company, with Erik Feig also producing via Picturestart. Randy Pitchford, executive producer of the Borderlands video game franchise and founder of the Gearbox Entertainment Company, is on board as an executive producer alongside Strauss Zelnick, chairman and CEO of Take-Two Interactive. Borderlands does not yet have a release date set. We'll be sure to keep you posted as any further details on the project are made available. You can check out the casting confirmation from the official Borderlands Twitter account.