The Borderlands movie from Lionsgate allegedly forgot to list two key workers in the credits, as those who helped bring Claptrap to life have spoken up about their exclusion.
Initial trailers and a series of delays had many dubious of the live-action Borderlands adaptation. Now, nearly a decade on from its announcement, the Borderlands film has finally hit cinemas around the globe and well, fans were right to be dubious.
Borderlands has been labeled the “worst movie of the year” as the flick debuted with a 0% score on Rotten Tomatoes. While our own review praised some of the changes from the source material, it’s not all going down well with fans, and evidently, the director knew that might be the case from the jump.
However, alongside backlash to the finished film itself, there’s also been controversy of another kind. Allegedly, at least two crew members involved in the project were left out of the end credits, claiming as much on social media in effort to bring attention to the oversight.
Up until this point I've been exceptionally lucky to have received a credit for every film I've worked on. It just stings that the one to finally break the streak was the last film I worked on at a studio. And for such a significant character too
— Robbie Reid the Rigger (@chowgood) August 8, 2024
This time 3 years ago I was rigging the CG asset of Claptrap for the Borderlands movie,” visual effects rigging artist Robbie Reid claimed in an August 8 post on X (formerly Twitter). With previous credits including Shang-Chi, Mortal Kombat, and many other blockbuster flicks, the freelancer quickly drew the attention of thousands online.
“I worked on [Claptrap] for five consecutive months,” he continued. “Neither I, nor the artist who modeled him (who I worked with the entire time), got a credit for the film.”
There’s no denying Borderlands had a turbulent production, with multiple directors, writers, and various crews all rotated on and off over the years. Though despite having worked on what’s claimed to be the finished version of Claptrap seen in the full movie, Reid and one other VFX artist were both left out of the credits.
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Admitting it’s a “common problem in the industry,” Reid stressed the exclusion is “definitely not the fault of any singular person.”
Reid also assured that, as a freelancer, he’ll nonetheless be using the Claptrap footage in his reel, just that it’s more difficult to verify his efforts in the long run.
As the post went viral, comments quickly piled up, though Reid was even quicker to shut a few down, especially those poking fun at the film’s reception.
“To those saying I dodged a bullet, artists should still get credit for work done no matter the quality of the film. It’s not a high bar to cross. I’m proud of the work our team did, and I thought the final product looked great.”
Lionsgate is yet to comment on the matter.
