Borderlands: The Hunt

About Borderlands: The Hunt is an adaptation loosely based on the first Borderlands game and audio logs found in other games in the franchise. This is not the screenplay for the Borderlands movie that released in 2024. This is, in many ways, a response to how bad that movie was. This screenplay is not to be produced. It is merely speculative of what a Borderlands film could have been like, rather than what it ended up being. It is a work of passion by a fan and for the fans of the Borderlands franchise, but with the intent of also being accessible by those who have never played the games. The title "The Hunt" is an homage to the annual charity streaming scavenger hunt that is also run by the fans. I expect that most people who read this will be Borderlands fans and may not be accustomed to reading screenplays. If this applies to you, please bear in mind that as a screenplay the greatest amount of attention is paid to the dialogue with only minimal descriptions of the action and visual effects. Much of the finer details in that regard would be handled by the director and production team. Like with any adaptation, not everything from the game made it in, as the narrative structure of a movie is not the same as that of a video game. As such, it does not follow the events of the games or DLC in the Borderlands franchise exactly, but it aligns with the broader strokes, and I feel it is true to the spirit of the franchise, if not the cannon timeline of events. I expect that some of the creative decisions made in adapting the story of Borderlands will be controversial and may result in backlash, most notably the decision to make Dr. Tannis the point-of-view character, but I stand by it. It allows the film to explore things from a different perspective than the games did, things that were never shown on screen, only mentioned in audio logs. These include her time working for the Dahl Corporation alongside Elyse Booth, Overseer Harchek, and others, as well as her interactions with Commandant Steele and the Crimson Lance. If this is not to your taste and you prefer only to stick with the canon events, I suggest you play through the game or read through the wiki. If you are intrigued by the idea of an updated take on the events of a 15-year-old game, then this is for you. Plot Borderlands: The Hunt follows Patricia Tannis as she first arrives in New Haven and joins a crew of Vault Hunters led by the enigmatic Lilith. She tells them the story of how she first came to Pandora in search of an alien Vault on behalf of the Dahl Corporation who have been mining the planet. during the mining, Dahl workers uncovered several alien artifacts, including one that Tannis identified as the key to the elusive Vault. When hibernating aliens in the mine wake up and attack the facility, the Dahl Corporation abandons Pandora, but Tannis and a few others choose to remain behind in search of the Vault. Their efforts are thwarted when the Vault Key is stolen by an escaped prisoner named Flynt. They head for the shelter of a crashed spaceship called Sanctuary, but along the way they face the aggressive wildlife of the planet and psychotic ex-convicts turned bandits. Only Tannis survives. Once on board Sanctuary, Tannis sends a message to Dahl, then waits for rescue. Rescue never comes, and Tannis begins to go insane from starvation and isolation. Just as she has resigned herself to dying, she is discovered and captured by the Crimson Lance, led by Commandant Steele who is also in search of the Vault. Steele reveals that she is a mystical being called a Siren and could sense that there is another Siren on Pandora, which she thought was Tannis, but wasn’t. Steele tortures Tannis for the location of the Vault Key but is unsuccessful. Roland, one of Lilith’s crew, infiltrates the Crimson Lance’s base and rescues Tannis. The two escape together and after being chased by more hostile wildlife, they eventually make it to New Haven, catching things up with the present. The Vault Hunters welcome Tannis into their community and she gets to know some of the colorful cast of characters in New Haven and their stories. The Vault Hunters plan and execute a raid on Flynt’s bandit hideout thanks to Lilith, who reveals her own Siren powers. Recovering the Vault Key, but upon their return to New Haven they find that town has been destroyed by the Crimson Lance, who had tracked Roland and Tannis there. Tannis panics, feeling guilty for all the people who have died because of her hunt for the Vault. While the others look for survivors, Tannis flees, and gets approached by Steele. Steele promises not to kill the Vault Hunters if Tannis will join her willingly, and she accepts, but before she goes, she leaves a clue for the Vault Hunters to go to Sanctuary. The Vault Hunters locate the wreck and begin repairs, while Tannis works on deciphering the Vault Key for Steele. They are able to get the ship running again, but just enough to fly, not enough for space travel. Once Tannis has ascertained the location of the Vault, the Crimson Lance heads off to find it, bringing Tannis and the Key with them. The Vault Hunters attack them en route, and Sanctuary is forced to crash land as they reach the site of the Vault. Steele takes Tannis and the Vault Key underground to find the Vault, followed by Lilith. While the rest of the Vault Hunters battle the Crimson Lance at the cave entrance, Lilith and Steele fight using their Siren powers. With Tannis’s help, Lilith manages to take the Vault Key from Steele. Tannis stops Lilith from opening the Vault, however, because she has discovered in translating the Key that the Vault doesn’t contain treasure, but is in fact a prison to a powerful alien called the Destroyer. Steele, however, takes this opportunity while Lilith is distracted, to get take the Key back and open the Vault herself. The Destroyer is released and kills Steele. Lilith and Tannis battle it back into the vault and seal it again. The Vault Hunters celebrate a hollow victory, as the Crimson Lance are defeated, but for all their effort there was no reward within the Vault. They comfort themselves with the knowledge that there are more Vaults out there, and Tannis reveals that the Vault Key can help them find them.