Achieving great success and enjoying a golden period in the gaming industry doesn’t necessarily guarantee that its movie adaptations will perform well in the market. Despite both its remasters and new games doing really well, the Resident Evil IP has not exactly overwhelmed Hollywood like an army of undead would, shuffling from one decent action flick to another, with the odd disappointment thrown in. However, that isn’t stopping Capcom and its partners from pushing ahead with a new try.
After the poor performance in terms of sales and criticism for two projects – Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2021) and the Resident Evil Netflix Netflix series (2022), Hollywood filmmakers are apparently still determined to bring this zombie story back to the big screen, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter.
This Resident Evil reboot project is being led by Zach Cregger, the director praised for his work on the film Barbarian, taking the helm. This reboot film promises to stay faithful to its source material – the video game itself, but we have definitely heard this argument before.
Having made his solo screenwriting and directorial debut with Barbarian, which grossed US$45.4 million worldwide, Cregger will now attempt to do what others have consistently failed in the past. Despite exploring some interesting material and attempting to create his take on things, the Paul W. S. Anderson movies can be too far-fetched, even for a Resident Evil world.
The Resident Evil reboot will be produced with the help of PlayStation Productions and Constantin Film, a key partner that has been involved in all the previous live-action adaptations. Shay Hatten, who has credits on John Wick: Chapter 4 and Army of the Dead, is co-writing the script.
The likes of Warner Bros. and Netflix are part of the bidding war to secure the rights for the reboot, and with Cregger at the helm as the potential next big thing, the reasoning is quite sound. And especially so when the franchise itself has always been box office gold.
There’s no information yet about the storyline, cast, or release window for this new take on Resident Evil, but we will be sure to keep an eye out.
