Kevin Hart is taking up arms as Roland in the Borderlands movie

According to an article published by The Hollywood Reporter earlier this week (thanks!), actor-comedian Kevin Hart will be the second actor to join the ranks of Eli Roth's upcoming Borderlands movie, which is based on the popular game franchise of the same name.

Alongside multiple Academy award-winning actress Cate Blanchett, who has been cast as the fire-wielding Siren Lilith, Hart will be taking up the mantle of Roland, a former Atlas soldier and the de facto leader of the original Borderlands quartet.

The other two members, namely Mordecai and Brick have yet to be cast, although I personally feel Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is a great fit for the latter role. After all, he's already got that stocky brawler physique nailed down to a T.

Going back to Hart, I will admit it's highly unusual for him to take on serious, no-nonsense roles like Roland, considering his cheeky demeanor and light-hearted charisma usually characterises him for comedy films.

Director Eli Roth has weighed in on this odd-but-novel casting choice too, saying that he's "thrilled to be working with Kevin", and that he hopes to be able to present audiences with a previously unseen facet of the actor's talents.

But talents aside, Hart will have some really big shoes to fill on the silver screen. As a character, Roland is one of the most respected individuals in the Borderlands universe, both by his in-game comrades and the game's real-life fans, and he only got even more awesome in Borderlands 2.

As for the film itself, information on its release and production are still few and far between, although some sources suggest that Roth and his crew are set to begin filming in Hungary soon.

This article was first published in Hardware Zone.