Zach Cregger hopes fans won’t crucify him for his take on Resident Evil
Zach Cregger, writer/director of Barbarian and Weapons, is directing a new Resident Evil movie for Sony, aiming for a September 18, 2026 theatrical release. Cregger has said that his movie will be “obedient to the lore” of the Resident Evil video games, but won’t be about the characters from the games, because their stories have already been told in game form. Filming got underway a couple of months ago, with the streets of Prague being transformed into the video game setting of Raccoon City. The project is now in post-production – and Cregger is hoping that fans won’t crucify him when the movie is released.
Cast and Story
Cregger wrote the screenplay with Shay Hatten (Army of the Dead) and the story apparently harkens back to the original Capcom game’s horror roots. Here’s the supposed logline: Bryan, a laid-back organ courier, is sent on a late-night delivery to Raccoon City General Hospital. En route through a snowy mountain road, he accidentally hits a strange woman with his car. She survives—but something is very wrong. As he tries to help, Bryan stumbles into a full-blown outbreak involving horrifying tentacle-based mutations and bio-engineered monstrosities.
Weapons cast member Austin Abrams has the lead role and is joined in the cast by Paul Walter Hauser (Cobra Kai), Zach Cherry (Severance), Johnno Wilson (I Love That for You), and the previously mentioned Kali Reis. Cherry is said to be playing a scientist at a hospital and Reis is set to play an ex-military character that was initially written for a male actor.
Cregger, a big fan of the Resident Evil video games who has never watched any of the previous movies, has said, “It’s gonna be not at all like Barbarian and Weapons. It’s going to be a rock ’em, sock ’em… it’s for me to play. And turn my brain off and just make an… Evil Dead II… get crazy with the camera. … It’s a weird, fun, wild story. This movie follows a person from point A to point B. It’s like a real time journey, where you just go deeper and deeper into the depths of Hell.“ The filmmaker was given carte blanche to do whatever he wanted with the property.
Constantin Film is producing and co-financing the film. Constantin’s Robert Kulzer, Vertigo Entertainment’s Roy Lee and Miri Yoon, and PlayStation Productions are also producing. Nicole Brown will be overseeing the project for Sony’s Columbia Pictures. Lee has said that Cregger is delivering “a roller coaster ride of nonstop action.“
Annihilation
Speaking with The New York Times, Cregger said that he knew some fans might want to crucify him for not making a direct adaptation of any of the games and maybe deviating from some of the established lore – but he’s also trying to make sure the viewing experience will be a lot of fun for the general audience.
He said, “I love the idea of being pitted against a world that is hellbent on annihilating you. It just feels fun, and I haven’t seen a movie that offers that sort of experience.“
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