Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City Delayed By Sony

Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City has been pushed back to November 24th, 2021. The live-action reboot was initially scheduled for a September 3rd release, but has been officially moved by Sony and Screen Gems. While that news will likely come as a disappointment for some fans of the series, it will still arrive this year, as the franchise celebrates the 25th anniversary of the original Resident Evil game. The film will apparently feature an adaptation of sorts of the first two games in the series. As of this writing, Sony has not given an official reason for the delay.

Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City is being directed by Johannes Roberts and produced by Robert Kulzer. The film will star Kaya Scodelario (Claire Redfield,) Robbie Amell, (Chris Redfield), Hannah John-Kamen (Jill Valentine), Avan Jogia (Leon S. Kennedy), Tom Hopper (Albert Wesker), Chad Rook (Richard Aiken), and Neal McDonough (William Birkin).

The upcoming film has received a lot of interest from fans of the Resident Evil franchise. While previous films based on the series played fast and loose with elements from the games, Welcome to Raccoon City seems like a more faithful adaptation. There have been six previous movies with the Resident Evil title, starring Milla Jonovich as the original character Alice. This time around, fans can expect to see popular faces from the S.T.A.R.S. team in the spotlight, instead. For long-time fans, that should prove to be a welcome change!

Movies based on video games haven't always had the best track record, with box office bombs like Super Mario Bros. and Double Dragon leaving some gamers hesitant. However, that trend seems to have changed in recent years. Films like Pokemon: Detective Pikachu and Sonic the Hedgehog have proven that faithful video game adaptations can find success at the box office. Upcoming movies like Mortal Kombat, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City all appear similarly faithful to the games that inspired them, but fans will just have to wait and see if that will result in critical and commercial success.

Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City will release in theaters on November 24th, 2021. You can check out our previous coverage of the film right here.

Are you a fan of the Resident Evil franchise? Are you disappointed by the movie's delay? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!