Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Take-Two, is still hopeful about the Borderlands film: 'Let us give it a chance.'

It's a bad film. It's bad. It's bad.

Strauss Zelnick, Take-Two's CEO, hopes that this will happen. I don't believe it's likely.

Zelnick told IGN, "Let's not give up on the film." "Many people worked very hard on it. The intellectual property is fantastic, the cast is incredible, and I think the overall look and feel of the film is terrific. Let's see what the audience has to say."

Zelnick is interested in Gearbox because it is now owned by Take-Two. The publisher bought Gearbox earlier this year from the shambolic wreckage that was Embracer Group. Gearbox cost $460 million. This is less than half what Embracer spent on Gearbox back in 2021 when they acquired the studio.

The Borderlands film is only a day old, but what audiences are saying about it has not been positive. The "audience rating" on Rotten Tomatoes sits at a paltry 48%. While that's far above the critical consensus - the official Tomatometer currently sits an impressively terrible 6% - it's still not very good.

This weekend will be the true test: If Borderlands is to fill seats and recoup some of its budget, then it must happen in the next three days. Borderlands will not be competing with any major blockbusters this weekend. However, Deadpool and Wolverine is still cruising along, despite the fact that it is rated R instead of PG-13.

Take-Two can rejoice that even if Borderlands bombs as badly as everyone thinks it should, it will not affect the company's bottom-line: "The performance would have no financial impact on us in any way," Zelnick explained. But is there a slight lingering smell? I think it may be harder to avoid.