Zach Cregger, known for his work as director on Barbarian and, more recently, Weapons, has revealed that, in his stint as director for a new Resident Evil movie, he will not be making use of pre-established characters from the game series. Speaking to Inverse, Cregger still maintained that the movie will respect Capcom’s horror game franchise. However, people that might be hoping to see Leon Kennedy or Claire Redfield in action will be disappointed.
Rather, Cregger is more interested in telling a fresh story within the world of Resident Evil. He said that the movie will act as a love letter to the game franchise, and will follow the same rules for its fiction as the games do.
“Let me say this: this is not breaking the rules of the games,” Cregger said. “I am the biggest worshiper of the games, so I’m telling a story that is a love letter to the games and follows the rules of the games. It is obedient to the lore of the games, it’s just a different story. I’m not going to tell Leon’s story, because Leon’s story is told in the games. [Fans] already have that.” Following up on fans that might want to see a more faithful adaptation of Resident Evil games, Cregger said that “They can play the game.”
Rumours surrounding the movie have indicated that its story will revolve around a courier and their attempt at delivering a package to a remote hospital. However, with the outbreak of the zombie virus, they invariably will end up in a battle for survival against “hordes of mutated creatures”.
Back in April, Cregger had also spoken about the Resident Evil games, and how he is taking inspiration from them to execute the vision for his movie. “There’s a moment that comes in almost every Resident Evil game where you find yourself in a dark passageway, your health is almost zero and there’s no way around,” he said. “You have to go through but you know there’s something awful for you in the darkness.”
“That is a thrill that the Resident Evil games have perfected. My movie will be built in the spirit of those games and follows one central protagonist from point A to point B, as they descend deeper into hell.”
The Resident Evil movie series getting rebooted was announced all the way back in January. The production on the film will be handled by Resident Evil screen rights owner Constantin Film along with PlayStation Production. The movie will be co-written by Cregger along with Shay Hatten (John Wick: Chapter 4, Army of the Dead).
When it comes to movies, Resident Evil’s live action outings have always been an entirely separate franchise from the games, with their continuities being highly divergent despite the movies borrowing elements from the games like the existence of the Umbrella Corporation. The first of these movies, staring Mila Jovovich, came out all the way back in 2002. Despite the fact that the movies are barely connected to the game franchise, the movies have made $1.2 billion worldwide.
The Cregger-directed Resident Evil movie is slated to hit theatres on September 18, 2026. Rumours have indicated that it will feature Austin Abrams in one of its leading roles.
