Fans Are Finding Out That Borderlands Isn't Rated R, And They Are Not Happy About It

After many years of difficulty, movies based on video games have started to get good enough that fans don’t automatically assume that a movie adaptation is going to be awful. However, a lot of fans of the upcoming video game movie based on the Borderlands franchise are far from certain the new film will be an adequate adaptation, all because of the film’s rating.

Among the things we know about the Borderlands movie is that the movie will not have a rating on par with the game series. Borderlands has been given a PG-13 rating, which is potentially a bit surprising because the Borderlands game series has always been rated M for Mature, the ESRB’s equivalent of the MPAA’s R rating. What we've seen in the Borderlands trailer certainly shows a more general audience-friendly movie. Fans on the r/borderlands subreddit are less than thrilled, with the initial post announcing the rating simply reading…

What follows in the comments are a lot of similarly depressed responses. While everybody understands the likely reason for a PG-13 rating, as it allows the movie to capture the widest possible audience, there’s a feeling among some that in doing so, they may have made Borderlands something other than what made it a successful video game series, meaning that fewer people will actually be interested in seeing it. As one comment put it…

There are other reasons that the PG-13 rating is potentially surprising, however. As another response points out, the Borderlands film was directed by Eli Roth, a man mostly known for visceral horror movies that would never be rated anything other than R. If fans thought that Roth directing the Borderlands movie was some sort of a guarantee of a mature film, they were wrong…

To be fair, Eli Roth once directed the PG-rated family movie A House with a Clock in its Walls, which was actually quite good, so he’s certainly capable of making quality films for more general audiences.

Many commenters seem to have already written off Borderlands as a movie. Obviously, people who are part of a subreddit specifically about the games are going to be among the franchise’s biggest fans, and the people who one might expect to be among the most looking forward to seeing a film adaptation. The good news is that at least some are still planning to see it, even if they’re not expecting much…

Of course, the simple fact is that the PG-13 may ultimately do exactly what it’s designed to do, bring in a wider audience that might be locked out, or simply discouraged, by an R-rating. There are certainly younger kids who play the video games, and the violence there, while significant, is also done with a sense of humor that tends to take the edge off. Still, not everybody believes the plan will succeed…

We will find out when the Borderlands movie hits theaters next month. For now, check the 2025 movie release dates.