Borderlands plot revealed, Edgar Ramirez cast as Atlas founder

The film Borderlands added Edgar Ramirez to his growing cast, who will play a character called Atlas. In the video game series, Atlas is the name of one of the largest corporations and manufacturers of weapons. In addition, Lionsgate has revealed the official storyline for the next film. According to the official press release, Ramirez will play the role of “corporate titan and arms maker” Atlas, probably the founder of the company. The statement says at the time of the film Atlas is “the most powerful person in the universe”.

According to Lionsgate, here’s the official synopsis for the film:

Cate Blanchett, twice an Oscar® winner, joins Kevin Hart in Borderlands, by director Eli Roth. Lilith (Blanchett), an infamous outlaw with a mysterious past, reluctantly returns to her home planet, Pandora, to find the missing daughter of the most powerful son of a bitch in the universe, Atlas (Ramirez). Lilith forms an alliance with an unexpected team – Roland (Hart), a former elite mercenary, now desperate for redemption; Tiny Tina (Greenblatt), a ferocious pre-teen demolitionist; Krieg (Munteanu), Tina’s muscular and rhetorically challenged protector; Tannis (Curtis), the scientist with tenuous control over sanity; and Claptrap (Black), a persistently smart robot.
These unlikely heroes must fight against alien monsters and dangerous bandits to find and protect the missing girl, who may be the key to unimaginable power. The fate of the universe may be in their hands – but they will be fighting for something more: each other. Based on the Gearbox and 2K game, one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time, welcome to Borderlands.

The plot seems to diverge from the games in some places, as Atlas has never been seen in the games properly. During the events of Borderlands 2, Atlas is under the control of Hyperion and his CEO Handsome Jack, and in Borderlands 3 Atlas changes his hands to Rhys, one of the protagonists of Tales From the Borderlands.

Atlas Corporation was featured in Borderlands 3, and its headquarters on the planet Promethea was a key location in the game. So there may be some overlap between the movie and the most recent Borderlands game.

The cast of the film Borderlands, directed by Eli Roth, includes Blanchett as Lilith, Hart as Roland, Greenblatt as Tiny Tina, Jamie Lee Curtis as Dr. Tannis, Jack Black as the voice of Claptrap and more.

The script is being written by Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin, who is also working on the HBO adaptation of The Last of Us, starring Pedro Pascal as Joel.

Edgar Ramirez will play Atlas. Credit: Lionsgate

Borderlands is one of several video game adaptations in progress, whether for cinema or television. A live action film by Mortal Kombat is set to debut on HBO Max later this month, while a live action film by Uncharted, starring Tom Holland as young Nathan Drake, ended filming. Time will tell which of those video game adaptations will finally make the leap to the silver screen.

Matt TM Kim is the news editor at IGN.