Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil Just Schooled Every Video Game Movie Franchise, Including Its Own

When trying to please existing fans and win over new ones, it’s challenging for adaptations of any beloved property to strike that perfect balance. Even in today’s age of so many prominent remakes and reboots, it is often anyone’s guess whether something is going to connect with audiences. For video games, the track record is historically even spottier. So it’s remarkable how director Zach Cregger’s 2026 reboot of Resident Evil not only survives the video game movie curse — which, to be fair, appears to have largely broken in recent years — but thrives, creating a whole new space for fans new and old to join the fandom.

The film stars Austin Abrams (who previously appeared in Cregger’s Weapons) as Bryan, a medical courier who is about to head home for the night. Naturally, before he leaves for an important conversation with his girlfriend, he takes one last job: a mysterious delivery at Raccoon City General Hospital. What follows is 90 minutes of pure mayhem, as Bryan fights for his life to deliver this package. Fans of Cregger’s films know how he can ratchet up tension and infuse some dark comedy, but what makes his Resident Evil stand out even more is how it diverges from what’s come before.

Resident Evil Has a Complicated History on the Big Screen

Given the history of video game movies, it’s impressive that Resident Evil as a brand has had such a prolific big-screen run. Director Paul W.S. Anderson’s 2002 film put Milla Jovovich’s Alice at the center of the action, where she remained for six films, concluding with 2016’s Resident Evil: The Final Chapter. And while the 2021 film Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City and the 2022 Netflix series starring Ella Balinska and Adeline Rudolph didn’t deliver what fans expected, Cregger’s film makes several creative choices that immediately differentiate it from previous efforts to bring the Resident Evil games to life. And it’s a smart follow-up to his Oscar-winning Weapons, showing off the range of horror filmmaking Cregger brings.

Most notably, the new film isn’t concerned with the game’s complicated lore. None of the fan-favorite characters that players know so well, such as Jill Valentine, Leon S. Kennedy, or Claire Redfield make appearances, and even the details surrounding the T-Virus are kept to a minimum. Rather, viewers join Bryan as a blank slate who stumbles into a world already thrust into chaos. This approach leans heavily into the survival horror tone and aesthetic that has made the games so popular for decades. Moreover, the film is structured much like a video game, with small tasks to perform to progress to the next stage and even some first-person shots. Plus, it does all this without taking itself too serious, grounding its story in character and a gallows humor that allows audiences to take in all the grotesqueries without being turned off by the gore.

What Other Franchises Can Learn from the 2026 Resident Evil

With rave reviews and a stellar domestic box office of $60 million on its opening weekend, Cregger’s Resident Evil is far and away the most well-received film in the franchise. That’s a credit to Cregger’s decision to strip down the bombastic action of the previous incarnations. With any luck, it’s a lesson that other filmmakers looking to adapt hit video game franchises will take to heart. So, while Resident Evil certainly aims for a different demographic than the Super Mario movies, Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, A Minecraft Movie, and Pokémon: Detective Pikachu, it could signal something of a turning point for video game movies.

By stripping away all the characters and plot points fans recognize, Cregger’s Resident Evil is able to stand on its own without rigorous debate over how faithful it is to the source material. Its goal isn’t to perfectly translate the games’ stories into a cinematic format but to capture what it feels like to play Resident Evil. The shock and terror that the playable characters experience upon entering the wrong place at the wrong time is why the games have endured, and the new film manages to make moviegoers feel like they’re living Resident Evil for the first time. If that isn’t a marker of success for a video game movie, then what is?

Do you agree with me? Or would you have preferred a more direct story adaptation? Let us know in the comments.

Resident Evil is now playing only in theaters.

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