“Borderlands” has had a long road to the big screen, having first been announced back in 2015. Seven screenwriters are credited for additional literary materials (i.e. previous drafts), and the final filmed screenplay credited to Roth and a mysterious co-writer called Joe Crombie, who has no other credits. It was speculated that this was a pseudonym for “Chernobyl” creator Craig Mazin, who was attached to the project at one point. but Mazin himself has denied this.

The version of “Borderlands” that ultimately got the green light has a scene where Claptrap acts as a decoy and gets pumped full of lead. To nail down the logistics of this, Roth turned to Randy Pitchford, CEO of the videos games’ developer Gearbox Software. “So what happens to the bullets?” Roth recalls asking him. “Randy goes, ‘I don’t know.’ I go, ‘Could he s**t out the bullets, like we’re in a Mel Brooks movie?’ He goes, ‘Yes, he could.’ And I felt we needed to see that.”

Apparently assuming that the Claptrap-pooping-bullets scene would be a clincher for audiences as well, Lionsgate placed it as the comedic post-title stinger at the end of the trailer for “Borderlands.” The response to it has been decidedly mixed, with some arguing it’s in line with the toilet humor of the games, and others saying it’s simply not funny and goes on far too long. But as far as Roth is concerned, that scene is everything:

“This is the movie where the robot gets shot, has to expel the bullets, and you’re just watching our hero Cate Blanchett going, ‘Is this really happening? I thought I was an action hero and he just hijacked my movie?’ The absurdity of that. Then having Jack [Black] milking that gag, that was the movie to me”

“Borderlands” hits theaters on August 8, 2024.