Fans of Resident Evil may be in for a surprise when the reboot finally hits theaters. Director Zach Cregger, who has made a name for himself in the horror genre, has recently commented on what fans can expect from his reboot. In an interview with Inverse to promote Weapons, the director expressed his love of the video games but also explained how his upcoming reboot will differ from the games, while still honoring them and their lore. In September 2024, Cregger was announced as the director of the Resident Evil reboot, and fans had hoped this meant they’d finally get a proper installment featuring characters from the games—more notably, Leon. Cregger has confirmed, however, that his reboot is not Leon’s story.
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In fact, Cregger has out right confirmed that his reboot will be its own story and will opt instead to tell a story that serves to honor the games he loves while giving fans something new. “Let me say this: this is not breaking the rules of the games,” Zach Cregger told the folks at Inverse. “I am the biggest worshiper of the games, so I’m telling a story that is a love letter to the games and follows the rules of the games.” He continued by saying, “It is obedient to the lore of the games, it’s just a different story. I’m not going to tell Leon’s story, because Leon’s story is told in the games. [Fans] already have that.”
Resident Evil has received multiple adaptations over the years; most notable of the adaptations is the films starring Milla Jovovich, who plays Alice, a character created specifically for the films. She starred in six films in total, beginning with 2002’s Resident Evil, followed by Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Resident Evil: Extinction, Resident Evil: Afterlife, Resident Evil: Retribution, and Resident Evil: The Final Chapter. While the films were not faithful adaptations of the beloved games, they still made a fair amount of money for Sony, with the first movie earning $102.98 million worldwide on a reported budget of $33 million. The franchise would continue to be a modest earner over the years, but ultimately saw its box office returns stumble with Resident Evil: The Final Chapter earning only $26 million stateside.
Despite this, Sony moved ahead with a reboot that would be a more faithful adaptation of the games, but one that would ultimately bomb in movie theaters: Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, which earned a measly 30% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Still, Sony continued to try and find success with the franchise. They released a television series on Netflix that featured characters from the games, but was just a loose take on the franchise, merely drawing on the video games’ lore. Now, with Cregger attached to a reboot of Resident Evil, though, perhaps Sony can finally give fans a take on the video game franchise that they can truly be excited about, even if it doesn’t feature the likes of Leon or Jill on screen. After all, with a huge library of video games behind it, there’s plenty of lore for Cregger to draw from in his own film.
Those unfamiliar with Cregger’s resume can currently stream Barbarian on Netflix, before heading out to theaters to check out the newly released Weapons, which has an impressive 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes after two-hundred reviews.
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