- Zach Cregger set to write and direct new film
- Studios including Warner Bros and Netflix fight it out
- Constantin Film and PlayStation Productions to produce
There’s another Resident Evil reboot coming and it’s sparked a bidding war amongst film studios.
The horror action game franchise, which dates back to the first 1996 release on PlayStation, became an instant hit, with players typically surviving in zombie-infested environments. It is widely recognised for pioneering the horror-survival genre in gaming.
However, despite its great potential for success on the big screen, the franchise has struggled to fully satisfy its fans in film adaptations.
Resident Evil fans want a proper horror film
Over the last 20 years, seven live-action Resident Evil films have been made. From 2002 to 2016, Paul W.S. Anderson directed six films that starred Milla Jovovich as Alice, an original character created for the film series.
From a financial standpoint, Anderson’s films were mega – collectively they grossed over $1.2 billion worldwide. But, most of the films received mixed to negative reviews from critics. Fans were quick to criticize the films for overemphasizing Alice, a character created specifically for the films and not present in the games.
There was also a general feeling of disappointment, as the films relied on heavy action and seemed to overlook the suspenseful horror that popularised the video games.
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The franchise was rebooted five years later, in the midst of the global pandemic, with the release of Johannes Roberts’s prequel, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City. Although it came closer to honoring the survival horror roots of the games, it was ultimately labelled a flop, financially and critically.
Zach Cregger’s reboot could be the one
As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, Zach Cregger is writing and directing a new Resident Evil film and it has the likes of Hollywood giants Warner Bros, Sony Pictures and Netflix jostling for position.
Constantin Film, which has held the screen rights to the title since the late 1990s and PlayStation Productions, are set to produce the latest reboot.
Cregger’s involvement in the project is creating quite a buzz. His directorial debut, 2022’s horror flick Barbarian, was made on a modest $4.5 million budget and went on to make ten times that amount at the box office. It’s no wonder the studios are circling.
But not only that, Barbarian was positively received and praised for its suspenseful narrative and execution of classic horror shock moments. It was one of the breakout films of 2022 and Rotten Tomatoes’s tomatometer has it as 92% with a general consensus on it being genuinely scary.
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Cregger’s second directorial horror film, Weapons, is set for release in early 2026, and according to sources, the test screenings have been positively received.
Josh Brolin, who stars in Weapons, spoke on the Bingeworthy TV Podcast about Cregger, he said “I think it’s a brilliantly designed and written script. Zach is a special dude. This one’s better (than Barbarian).”
Fans are hopeful that Cregger, who’s seemingly mastered the art of horror storytelling, can finally do the Capcom video games justice.
It shouldn’t be this hard to make a good Resident Evil movie. Just adapt the first game. With Jill and Chris in the mansion. If Cregger can’t make a good horror movie based on Resident Evil, then nobody can.
— RJ (@ResonantJustice) January 24, 2025
