Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil: What What We Know

It’s Halloween, and Halloween means a good zombie movie. While it’s the start of August, several fans have already put up spooky decorations, planned costumes, and looked forward to horror movies. One of the most anticipated by fans and critics alike is Zach Cregger’s treatment of the popular Resident Evil video game franchise. Focusing on a single Raccoon City resident with none of the familiar characters, Cregger’s entry to the horror franchise has generated a lot of hype. Let’s take a look at just what fans know about the Weapons director’s masterpiece, and speculate a bit on what fans can expect.

A FRESH TAKE ON THE PROPERTY

In the game canon (and presumably the movie canon), the “Raccoon City Incident” took place from September 23rd to October 1st, 1998. Assuming that the fictional location is located in the Midwest, there was no snowstorm until November of 1998. In games (and dedicated fandoms like Resident Evil), people pay attention to these sorts of things. Cregger has stated that he moved the incident to 2026. 

“This movie doesn’t take place in the ’90s when Resident Evil 2 came out. It takes place in the snow in 2026. That’s why his character has an iPhone. Because I took liberties to tell a story I wanted to tell and make the movie look the way I wanted to make it look.”

While die-hard fans might take issue with it, the previous films (all 7 Paul Anderson films and the “Welcome to Raccoon City” game) all struggled with adapting the iconic source material. Critically, the first Resident Evil film has a 35% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes – but a 67% audience score. The “Welcome to Raccoon City” film has a 30% critical score but a 65%  audience score. Critics looking for details that mirror the games walk away disappointed, but general audiences enjoyed the film. 

The new film operates at a tight 95 minutes, and it’ll remain to be seen how critics and audiences react, and whether the audience will feel that same thrill as they did from the other films or vice versa. Cregger is hoping to gain the audience’s interest with new monsters, including a “giant obese hairless naked man” that protagonist Bryan will encounter in the sewers.

“I just really love the idea like you’re moving through a sewer, you have no idea what’s in front of you, and you come around a corner, and you see a gigantic, obese, naked, hairless man just sitting in front of you.

Cregger is determined to develop his own take on the mythos, including denying the existence of a Nemesis or other iconic monsters that fans love. “”It’s also like, I don’t have a Nemesis in this movie as the games use” he said, “- like this gigantic hulking Terminator that’s following you – but this is also like a little bit of a nod to the Nemesis.” Cregger isn’t completely cutting out the games monsters however teasing a monster that has more “similarities” to the games – a creature depicted with six limbs crawling out of a doorway:

I don’t wanna give too much away about what’s coming out of the door. But I will say that there’s a mechanic that I’ve put into this movie that might be in some of the games, and I just can’t remember it being in the games, but it’s a way the infected interact with each other, and it’s something that kind of pursues him throughout the movie. I don’t want to say too much, but I’m really excited for how this creature changes and evolves over the course of the movie.”

Fans might ask about the zombies, but Creger is determined to showcase more of what the T-Virus can do to the human body, calling it a “missed opportunity.” he teased fans with that while admitting that zombies wouldn’t be around so much.

“I wouldn’t call this a zombie movie. You have the opportunity for the T-virus to do all these fascinating things to the human body and the world around you, so to just limit it to zombies feels like a squandered opportunity, so I tried to vary it up.”

While fans might be frustrated, indeed annoyed, Cregger is taking the opportunity to add more details from the games that other directors and writers have missed.

ZACH CREGGER HAS PLAYED THE GAMES, AND HE WANTS YOU TO KNOW IT.

According to Cregger, Bryan starts with the typical weapon progression that fans find in games. Bryan starts out with a basic pistol before upgrading into a shotgun and an MP5. Players will be living with the protagonist and feeling his fear as he heads through the movie. Fans’ reactions are mixed, but it’s a different take from when fans were asked to empathize with game characters more than capable of taking care of themselves. That’s not bad; Resident Evil’s characters, heroes and villains alike, have been fan favorites for years. However, rather than adapting characters, Cregger seems intent on adapting the game mechanics.

That doesn’t change the basics of the story. You are alone in an impossible situation as a city crumbles around you. It’s timely and focused on an individual in the face of insurmountable odds, with art mirroring life over a wild incident on set.

ACTOR AUSTIN ADAMS DID A LOT OF HIS OWN STUNTS; IT GOT WILD.

According to Cregger, an on set accident “would have killed” Austin Adams who plays Bryan, our protagonist. 

“It’s in the trailer momentarily, but [Abrams is] running down the street, and there’s zombies on the roof of the buildings on either side, and they’re all leaping at him.” 

The scene, according to Cregger, would have made no sense with VFX, so they had to figure it out how to do it practically. Cregger shared that they used 150-pound blood bags and then dropped them around the actor. While you can’t downplay the seriousness of the situation, Cregger was humbled by Adams commitment, and it gave him a new appreciation for craft:

Quote: It would’ve killed him. If he had been one step to the right, he would’ve died. [The shot is] in the movie, so it’s f*cking worth it. I was pretty stunned. … That’s what’s so great about making movies is you have this scene, you have this amazing idea in your head, and then you just have all these people help you realize that idea and immortalize it on the screen. And there’s a real sense of teamwork and accomplishment. I’m very proud of this movie. I feel like I grew a lot making it, just as a filmmaker.”

The blood, sweat, and tears going into the film seem like audiences will be in for a wild time. It leaves fans wondering: just what might fans think about the new series? Between the poster, the trailer, and those incredible shots, it seems like a unique piece of horror – one that focuses on twisted bodies and the dark side of a beloved franchise. From the monsters (six-armed creators?? Obese monsters in the sewers?) to flying zombie bodies, one can only imagine what Cregger has in store.

What do you think the new Resident Evil movie might include? Share your thoughts in the comments and watch the trailer below!

Resident Evil releases September 18th.