Borderlands Was Originally Filmed As An R-Rated Movie

This week, the Borderlands movie is out in theaters, and the reviews have not been kind. On top of everything else, the PG-13 film is up against Marvel’s R-rated juggernaut, Deadpool and Wolverine, which should sail to another win in its third weekend. But there’s a much darker version of Borderlands that we may never see, because this film was originally intended to be R-rated as well.

Borderlands stunt coordinator Jimmy O’Dee told ScreenRant that the movie had a lot of gory violence, including decapitations and dismemberment, that didn’t make it into the final film.

“We were shooting an R-rated movie when we did it,” recalled O’Dee. “So, we were blowing people’s heads off. And we were cutting feet off. We were doing all of that. But then, you know, a lot happens. We shot that nearly three years ago, or we just finished it. So, I guess a lot happens in post, and they see where it’s going to go and what market they’re aiming for. But literally the idea and the brief was carnage… Go for it and then we’ll sort it out in post.”

Deadpool director Tim Miller helmed the reshoots, but according to O’Dee, the film’s original director, Eli Roth, favored a harder edge.

“Eli loves horror,” said O’Dee. “He loves horror. It was funny, he was on the second unit, he came over, and he was like, ‘Uh… just cut the ankles off. Yeah, get the knife and cut the ankles and we will leave these stubs.’ It was kind of like there wasn’t enough gore for him sometimes. Eli was all over that kind of stuff. He was great to work with. It was such a fun time with him.”

If the R-rated version of Borderlands exists in a finished or nearly-finished form, it could potentially be released on Blu-ray or 4K down the line. But if the film bombs this weekend, there may not be a big demand to see more versions of it.

Borderlands is now playing in theaters.