‘Borderlands’ Movie Casts Jamie Lee Curtis As Tannis

For the most part, we’ve come to expect the worst from video game movies. Most are pretty terrible. But now there’s starting to be a change at least in the stars they’re able to attract. The upcoming Borderlands film from director Eli Roth already has Cate Blanchett and Kevin Hart on board, two of the biggest stars in the world. And now you can add Hollywood scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis.

Curtis is the latest to join a big-screen take on Borderlands, the hit first-person shooter/RPG game about a group of “Vault Hunters” scouring the planet Pandora for alien treasure. The role Curtis will be playing is Patricia Tannis, “an archeologist on Pandora who might have the key to finding the vault, but whose complicated history with Lilith (Blanchett) isn’t going to help.” Hart is playing Roland, the stoic soldier.

In the games, Tannis is an NPC (non-player character) and the one who gives the Vault Hunters their missions in the first couple of games. She’s also autistic, and described as  “an insane introvert with Asperger’s.”

One other thing, Tannis is much younger in the video games than Curtis, showing Roth’s willingness to go outside the lines to cast who he wants for the film. I guess we should’ve guessed when Hart was cast to play the rugged Roland.

Next up for Curtis are the back-to-back horror sequels Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends.

Travis Hopson
Travis Hopson has been reviewing movies before he even knew there was such a thing. Having grown up on a combination of bad '80s movies, pro wrestling, comic books, and hip-hop, Travis is uniquely positioned to geek out on just about everything under the sun. A vampire who walks during the day and refuses to sleep, Travis is the co-creator and lead writer for Punch Drunk Critics. He is also a contributor to Good Morning Washington, WBAL Morning News, and WETA Around Town. In the five minutes a day he's not working, Travis is also a voice actor, podcaster, and Twitch gamer. Travis is a voting member of the Critics Choice Association (CCA), Washington DC Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA), and Late Night programmer for the Lakefront Film Festival.