Eli Roth explains why Borderlands cut a Hammerlock and Jakobs wedding scene (exclusive)

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to discuss the Borderlands wedding that will tragically remain in the vault (for now). 

For his upcoming movie adaptation of the fast-selling video game franchise, director Eli Roth tells Entertainment Weekly that he shot an entire wedding sequence between Wainwright Jakobs (Cheyenne Jackson) and his partner Sir Alistair Hammerlock (Charles Babalola), two popular characters from the games. However, the filmmaker says it was ultimately scrapped during the editing process because it threw off the movie's pace.

“It was one of those things that we all loved,” Roth explains. “We loved the actors. The scene itself turned out great, but in the overall mission of the film it felt like a detour that stopped the mood and then went back.”

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Sir Hammerlock, an old-school adventurer, and Jakobs, the heir to a large weapons manufacturer, were revealed to be in a relationship in Borderlands 3, released in 2019 for PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One, and later macOS and Stadia. The pair invited their pals to their destination wedding on the icy planet Xylourgos in the game’s 2020 downloadable content Guns, Love, and Tentacles, where hijinks — like accidentally getting possessed by a local cult leader — naturally ensued ahead of their big day. 

They weren't the only ones affected by the final cut, either. "There were things that we tried to do with Scooter and Ellie," Roth says, referring to the mechanic siblings that appear in multiple games. Roth cast Steven Boyer as Scooter and Ryann Redmond as Ellie, respectively. "Just so much stuff where you rebuild these things and you nail it, and the actors are amazing, and then in the edit of the movie, you can't see it at the time and you feel emotionally so bad because the actors are so good."

Roth is still holding out hope that both Wainwright and Jakobs’ wedding — and some family time between Ellie and Scooter — will eventually appear in a future Borderlands sequel. "All you can say is, you know what? If we're lucky to do another one, we know we got them for another one,” he says. “And that's a very hard thing, but ultimately your responsibility is to the movie and to the story.” 

But, for now, the director is making sure that Lilith’s (Cate Blanchett) adventure takes center stage this time around. The film's plot centers around the rogue gunslinger reluctantly returning to her home planet Pandora as part of a mission to track down the missing daughter of evil billionaire, Atlas (Edgar Ramirez).

Along the way, she’ll join forces with a series of ragtag companions — like explosives expert Tiny Tina (Ariana Greenblatt), scientist Tannis (Jamie Lee Curtis), and chatter-box droid Claptrap (Jack Black) — and maybe, just maybe, stumble upon a legendary treasure vault in the process, too.

Borderlands springs into theaters on Aug. 9.

—Reporting by Nick Romano