EXCLUSIVE: Edgar Ramirez to play Atlas in Eli Roth’s adaptation of the best-selling video game Borderlands for Lionsgate. He joins Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ariana Greenblatt, Florian Munteanu, Haley Bennett and Jack Black. In the game, Atlas is a corporate titan and weapon maker, and the most powerful person in the universe.
“What an incredible honor to have an actor of Edgar’s caliber, talent and charisma acting alongside Cate Blanchett and this remarkable cast,” said Roth. “Atlas has to be a truly magnetic personality, someone with charisma and charm, but that air of menace behind everything. I’ve been a fan of Edgar since his first performances and he continues to surprise me with every dramatic turnaround. We want to create something wild, fun and very different from everything they’ve seen from Edgar before. I’m really, really excited to be working with him. “
Related Story
‘Borderlands’: Edgar Ramirez to play Atlas in adapting Lionsgate’s popular video game
In the film, Lilith (Blanchett), an infamous thug with a mysterious past, reluctantly returns to his home planet Pandora to find the missing daughter of the most powerful motherfucker 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 strength of Edgar’s presence and the strength of his talent as an actor make him the ideal choice to play Atlas, a character who controls the fate of so many in the Borderlands universe. He’s the perfect complement to this perfect cast, ”said Nathan Kahane, president of Lionsgate Motion Picture Group.
Borderlands is one of the most successful video game franchises in the world, with more than 68 million units sold worldwide, including more than 24 million units of Borderlands 2, which is the best-selling title in 2K’s history. The most recent installment, Borderlands 3, which was released in September 2019 and recently released for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, sold over 12 million units worldwide and was honored with the award for Best Multiplayer Game at Gamescom 2019 and Best Continuous Game at Gamescom 2020.
The final draft of the script is by screenwriter Craig Mazin, twice an Emmy winner. Avi Arad and Ari Arad are producing through their Arad Productions banner, with Erik Feig also producing through PICTURESTART. The executive producers of the film are Randy Pitchford, executive producer of Borderlands video game franchise and founder of Gearbox Entertainment Company, and Strauss Zelnick, president and CEO of Take-Two Interactive.
James Myers and Aaron Edmonds are overseeing the project on behalf of Lionsgate. Emmy Yu is supervising the film for Arad Productions. Lucy Kitada and Royce Reeves-Darby are overseeing the PICTURESTART project.
Ramirez was busy last year, most recently starring alongside Jennifer Garner on Netflix’s Yes, day. He was also seen recently in the critically acclaimed HBO limited series, The Undo. He will be the next Disney’s star Jungle Cruise and Universal The 355.
Ramirez is represented by CAA, Impression Entertainment and Hirsch Wallenstein. Robert Melnik negotiated the deal on behalf of Lionsgate.