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Gearbox Creative Director Paul Sage is keen to cast Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson in the upcoming film adaptation of Borderlands. As Zane? As Axton? As Roland? No. As Claptrap, of course.
The film is in its early stages of development in the hands of Lionhead Studios, and Venom producer Avi Arad informing the project’s direction. It will remain true to the franchise, so expect to see fan favourites on the silver screen, but introduce a new female protagonist according to a report by Full Circle Cinema.
Characters and casting may be only rumours at present, but in a chat with VG247 Paul Sage enthusiastically chose Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson as his perfect Claptrap. Sage explained that their audio team could warp any poor soul into the chirpy yet depressed Vault Hunter companion, but stood firm on his dream – ‘I think The Rock. Yeah, The Rock has to play Claptrap!’
Scott Kester, Art Director for Borderlands 3, offered an alternative insight. Countering Sage’s proposition, he said, ‘Do you mean as a voice or dressed up? Because if he was dressed up, I agree with him completely.’ Condensing Johnson’s hulking body into a trapezoid wheelie robot would be a feat of visual effects unlike anything seen before; it might even give Avatar 2 a run for its money. Kester also suggested veteran character actor Bill Murray for the voice of Claptrap which seems far more feasible, physically, and still a rather good shout.
It’s unexpected, but when has the Borderlands universe ever wanted to play by the rules? While we wait with bated breath, Borderlands 3 comes to PS4, Xbox One and PC on September 13. Dean Abdou played the third installment of the looter-shooter in L.A. and enjoyed it quite a bit.
