Kevin Hart to join Cate Blanchett in big screen bow of video game 'Borderlands'

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ABC/Randy Holmes

ABC/Randy Holmes(LOS ANGELES) — Kevin Hart has gone from finding himself stuck in a video game in the rebooted Jumanji movies to returning to the gamer world, in the big screen adaptation of the hit Borderlands video game series. 

The plot of Borderlands centers on the planet Pandora — no, not the Avatar one — where players hunt for a mysterious Vault and its jackpot of alien tech and other assorted treasures.

Horror director Eli Roth is helming the movie, with Oscar winner and former Thor: Ragnarok baddie Cate Blanchett already cast as Lilith, one of a rare race of super-powered women known as Sirens. 

And whereas Hart’s small stature was played for laughs in Jumanji, he’s actually leveling up in Borderlands, playing the game’s powerful ex-soldier turned-mercenary Roland. 

“I’m thrilled to be working with Kevin,” Roth said in a statement about the Lionsgate-backed project. “Borderlands is a different kind of role for him, and we are excited to thrill audiences with a side of Kevin they’ve never seen before.” 

Roth adds, “He’s going to be an amazing Roland.”

The three Borderlands games have sold some 66 million units worldwide, according to creator Gearbox Software, which is involved in the movie’s production along with Lionsgate.

By Stephen Iervolino
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