Zach Cregger is one of the modern masters of horror, and his new movie is finally releasing this month, just over a year after his last one. Although Cregger’s background is in comedy, he got his start as a horror director with the critically acclaimed 2022 horror film Barbarian. The film’s mix of horror and black comedy instantly made Cregger a notable figure, and only a few years later he proved that he wasn’t a one hit wonder.
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Weapons was released on August 8, 2025, and Zach Cregger’s second film was an even bigger hit than his previous one. Weapons was much more ambitious than Barbarian, with it featuring a larger cast, a more complex story, and a much bigger budget. It was produced by New Line Cinema for a budget of $38 million, and it wound up grossing $270 million at the box office. Cregger proved that he could be a blockbuster horror director, leading Hollywood to trust him with a reboot of one of the most iconic horror franchises.
Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil Finally Releases on September 18, 2026
Zach Cregger’s next movie will be a reboot of the Resident Evil movie series, and it is finally going to hit theaters on September 18, 2026. The franchise began as a video game released by Capcom in 1996, with its multiple sequels and spinoffs garnering critical acclaim and turning Resident Evil into arguably the most iconic horror video game series of all time. It didn’t take long for live-action adaptations of Resident Evil to appear, as 2002’s Resident Evil movie kicked off a six-film series starring Milla Jovovich, which concluded with the release of 2016’s Resident Evil: The Final Chapter.
The live-action Resident Evil movie series was consistently panned by critics throughout its run, and while it did make money, the franchise decided to make some changes to future entries. The next live-action project was 2021’s Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, a reboot of the franchise that featured characters from the games and was more accurate to the source material. Unfortunately, it received mixed critical reviews and had a disappointing box office performance. So, the next attempt was a live-action Resident Evil series on Netflix that released in 2022, which also received poor reviews, leading to it being cancelled after one season.
Cregger’s live-action Resident Evil will bring the franchise back to live action, and it will be completely disconnected from all the previous attempts. Cregger’s film was announced in January 2025, and the director stated that it would be a love letter to the games, set concurrently to the outbreak in Raccoon City that is depicted in the video game Resident Evil 2. The film stars Austin Abrams as Bryan, a medical courier who becomes trapped amid the Raccoon City outbreak while making a delivery there.
Cregger’s Track Record Means That Resident Evil Could Finally Get A Great Movie (After Many, Many Attempts)
None of the previous attempts at a live-action Resident Evil adaptation have lived up to the high bar that the video games set. However, if there was ever a chance for an attempt to be good, Zach Cregger’s movie is the one.
Cregger is an acclaimed filmmaker, and both of his horror movies so far have been incredible. So, even if his Resident Evil movie is only half as good as his previous films, it will still exceed every Resident Evil film that came before. The director has become known for mixing comedy and horror, something that is key to the DNA of Resident Evil. While the games are genuinely scary, camp is a massive factor, and Cregger has proven that he can pull it off perfectly.
The fact that the new Resident Evil movie is taking major inspiration from the video games is another great sign, and since a fan of the games is in the director’s chair, there is a lot of confidence that the film will properly respect the source material. The trailers show first-person shots similar to the POV seen in the latest Resident Evil trilogy, and since it is set concurrent to Resident Evil 2, there will probably be tons of hidden details for fans to enjoy. The trailer’s set pieces, monsters, and style perfectly capture what Resident Evil is, and there is so much more to see when the film finally hits theaters in a few weeks.
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