New Resident Evil Live-Action Movie Reportedly in Development
There have been seven Resident Evil live-action films thus far, and it seems an eighth is now in development. While Sony has not made any official announcements, information on a new movie has seemingly come from the city of Sudbury, Ontario, where Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City was filmed. As noticed by Bloody Disgusting, the city's official website mentions that the production company Raccoon HG Film Productions is receiving $2 million in funds from the provincial government. The funds are for a movie called "The Umbrella Chronicles," and Raccoon HG Film Productions was the same production company on Welcome to Raccoon City.
The first six Resident Evil films were loosely connected to the source material, predominantly centering on a new character named Alice. Welcome to Raccoon City rebooted the franchise, offering a narrative that more closely resembled the first two games in the series. Rather than focusing on Alice, the movie centered on iconic characters like Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, and Leon S. Kennedy. Despite offering more faithfulness to the source material, reviews for the movie were mixed, and the box office was significantly lower than 2017's Resident Evil: The Final Chapter. Still, Welcome to Raccoon City did make more than its budget, and that may have been enough for Sony to greenlight a second film.
The Umbrella Chronicles shares its name with a video game released in 2007 for the Nintendo Wii. The name doesn't offer any real hints about the storyline, as Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles featured content based on multiple previous games in the series. A light-gun shooter, the game recapped the events of Resident Evil Zero, Resident Evil, and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, while also offering new material. Welcome to Raccoon City's mid-credit scene did setup a sequel, with Ada Wong making her debut.
With so many games in the Resident Evil franchise, there's no shortage of material for Sony to mine for a follow-up film. Hopefully The Umbrella Chronicles will be able to build on the better elements of Welcome to Raccoon City, while also getting rid of those that didn't work. For now, fans will just have to keep waiting on an official announcement!
Are you excited to hear a new Resident Evil movie is in the works? Did you enjoy Welcome to Raccoon City? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!