Zach Cregger has checked into Resident Evil, with the first trailer revealing his take on the Capcom video game.
There have been seven previous Resident Evil movies. And an IP play like this, on its surface, doesn’t seem like the natural next move for Cregger, who has risen to become one of the most in-demand filmmakers of original fare in Hollywood. Barbarian was a surprise success, while Weapons turned into an Oscar-winning hit that grossed $270 million globally. Both were firmly based on Cregger’s own ideas.
But the filmmaker is said to have made a movie that takes the mythos of Resident Evil but is very much a standalone that feels like a Cregger movie.
Cregger unveiled a look at the movie earlier this month at CinemaCon, noting he is a longtime fan of the zombie video game franchise.
“Over the last couple of decades, I have played a shit ton of Resident Evil,” Cregger said, noting he he was drawn to how the games are “so naturally cinematic.” Added the filmmaker: “If you love the games, you will feel their influence everywhere in the movie.”
Per the logline, “In an all-new story, Resident Evil follows Bryan (Austin Abrams), a medical courier who unwittingly finds himself in an action-packed, non-stop race for survival as one fateful, horrifying night collapses around him in chaos.”
Weapons actor Abrams stars in Resident Evil, along with Zach Cherry, Kali Reis and Paul Walter Hauser. Cregger wrote the script with Shay Hatten.
Sony and Columbia Pictures have a Sept. 18 release date for the movie.
