Pandemic Issues Negatively Impact Borderlands According to Eli Roth
The production of the "Borderlands" movie was a unique experience, marked by numerous challenges due to the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Director Eli Roth highlighted the difficulties faced during the filming, particularly the reliance on virtual Zoom meetings and pandemic-related delays.
Filming for the movie began in 2021, but the pandemic disrupted the process, causing delays and forcing much of the filmmaking to adapt to remote work. Roth admitted that everyone involved thought they could pull it off, but they ended up getting their "asses handed to them a bit."
One of the key issues was the distancing protocols during the production, which meant that preparation could not be done in a room together. Director Roth could not be with his stunt people or do pre-vis, as everyone was spread all over the place.
The filming involved a young actress, Ariana Greenblatt, who spent long periods isolated on set in Budapest, Hungary during the pandemic, emphasizing the unusual and difficult working conditions related to maintaining COVID safety protocols on set.
The production of "Borderlands" also faced complications with reshoots, which were further complicated by pandemic restrictions. In 2023, Tim Miller led the reshoots, building off the rewrites already done to Craig Mazin's initial 2020 script by writer Zak Olkewicz.
Despite the challenges, Roth's relationship with Lionsgate was not soured by the "Borderlands" experience. The movie came out last year, and while it was largely met with derision, then indifference, Roth found it surreal to watch it and not know what would happen.
It's important to note that no specific advertisements were found in the provided text, and no future release dates for Marvel, Star Wars, Star Trek, DC Universe, or Doctor Who were mentioned. Roth's slasher movie Thanksgiving was filmed in 2023, marking a return to horror for the director following the "Borderlands" experience.
In summary, the challenges during the "Borderlands" production were largely due to pandemic-related delays, remote communication complications, difficulty scheduling reshoots, prolonged shelf time, and the isolating conditions for cast and crew during filming in 2020-2021.
- Advances in technology were essential during the production of the "Borderlands" movie given the remote work requirements imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Eli Roth mentioned that in the future, movie production might have to adjust to the use of virtual meetings and remote work on a regular basis, given the success seen during the filming of "Borderlands".
- Gizmodo and io9, both popular sites for technology, movies, and entertainment news, covered the unique production challenges faced by "Borderlands", discussing the impact of the pandemic on the movie industry.
