Jack Black To Play Claptrap In Borderlands Movie

Following two strange casting choices for the Borderlands movie, finally comes one that makes some semblance of sense. Jack Black has been cast for the movie, and he will be playing the wisecracker wannabe robot Claptrap.

Now, anyone who has played any instalment of the Borderlands series should know who or what Claptrap is. But for those who don’t, Claptrap is a recurring character archetype in the series, officially designated CL4P-TP. Across the games, its lines are supposed to be sarcastic, but fall flat more often than not.

It’s definitely a role that a comedian like Jack Black can play well. Kevin Hart too, if he wasn’t cast as Roland instead. In fact, it’s by far the casting that makes the most sense. But at the same time, would you really want a successful comedian to play a role of, well, a comedian that bombs every joke?

Having first cast two of the playable characters, the casting team have gone to cast two supporting roles in a row now. It remains to be seen who will play the remaining two main characters, Mordecai and the Brick. It would probably be safe to expect another set of curveball casting, with the current 50% rate that it is at.

Borderlands Developer Gearbox Acquired By Sweden’s Embracer Group

Developer Gearbox Studios, which is responsible for the highly popular Borderlands games, announced that it had been acquired by Swedish company Embracer Group. As described by Gearbox, the deal would give it access to capital, while allowing for a great deal of autonomy. Randy Pitchford, Gearbox’s famously outspoken CEO and founder, is set to remain as the company’s head.

“[Embracer Group CEO] Lars’s vision of Embracer as an allied partner group committed to fueling and accelerating the ambitions of a series of decentralised, successful entrepreneurial companies while magnifying the collective value and advantages of diversification across the entire group is the most brilliant strategy and design for short, medium, and long-term success in this industry that I have ever encountered in my 30 years in this industry,” said Pitchford.

The deal will see Embracer Group initially pay US$363 million (~RM1.5 billion) to Gearbox, with another US$1 billion (~RM4.1 billion) coming later if agreed-upon financial and operational targets are met in the next six years.

Speaking to VentureBeat, Pitchford suggested that other developers within the Embracer group could eventually work on the Borderlands franchise which is also being turned into a movie with actor Kevin Hart set to play one of the leads. As IGN noted, other developers under Embracer Group are known for titles like Metro Exodus, World War Z, and Dead Island.

“There are a lot of folks that would love to work on Gearbox IP, and Gearbox would love to help some of the Embracer Group games that might be stronger in other markets be published more effectively in North America,” he said.