RESIDENT EVIL Reboot Movie Officially In The Works From BARBARIAN Director Zach Cregger

Appropriately, the Resident Evil franchise just refuses to die, even after several critical and financial disasters in the last several years. Now it looks like a new take on the zombie-virus saga is on the way from Barbarian director Zach Cregger, who will write and direct the latest entry in the survival horror franchise, which is the subject of a fierce bidding war, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

via: THR

In what seems to have become the first major auction of the year, an intense bidding war is underway for a reboot of Resident Evil, the horror action movie franchise based on the popular video games. Cregger is attached to write and direct.

Four studios are elbowing for the win, among them Warner Bros. and Netflix, according to sources.

Constantin Film, which has held the screen rights to the title since the late 1990s and has been behind the previous movies, will produce the reboot along with PlayStation Productions. Shay Hatten, who worked on John Wick: Chapter 4 and Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead, is co-writing.

The movies, six starring Milla Jovovich plus one origin feature made during the pandemic, have been moneymakers. But Cregger is the reason studios are willing to shell out major money.

Cregger was an actor and comedian who reinvented himself as a cutting-edge filmmaker with Barbarian, the 2022 cult hit that he wrote and directed. It also established him as a new voice in horror, and when he went out with his follow-up horror project, a bidding war erupted. That upcoming film, titled Weapons, was won by Warners’ New Line division and saw him become a final cut director. The horror movie has Josh Brolin and Julia Garner in its ensemble cast.

The word on Weapons is that it’s very strong and has been testing quite high, according to sources. And Warners, which has not yet dated the movie, is likely doing everything it can to keep Cregger in its talent fold. (The filmmaker is also gearing up to release his first major film as a producer, the horror thriller Companion, which is receiving glowing reviews ahead of a Jan. 31 opening.)

And the combination of Cregger paired with an established intellectual property is also likely to be something too tempting to pass up, no matter the cost.

The Resident Evil movies, based on the Capcom video games, were a mix of horror, sci-fi and action genres and followed the adventures of a heroine who fights zombies and the Umbrella Corporation, the bio warfare company that let loose the monsters. The movies have grossed over $1.2 billion worldwide.

Cregger’s take is described by sources as a revamp that will take the title to its horror roots and be more faithful to the initial games, which date back to 1996.

*****

While the Resident Evil movies with Milla aren't great, and at times don't follow their own lore, they are guilty pleasures of mine. The R:E movie (Welcome to Racoon City) they made over the pandemic had elements that were faithful to the game, but I was over all disappointed in the film as a whole. And don't even get me started on that dreadful Netflix series that starred the late Lance Reddick.

That film was directed by Johannes Roberts' (47 Meters Down, The Strangers: Prey at Night), and starred Kaya Scodelario (Crawl) as Claire Redfield, Hannah John-Kamen (Ant-Man and the Wasp) as Jill Valentine, and Robbie Amell (Upload) as Chris Redfield. It was not well-received by fans or critics.

With Zach on board (I am a huge fan of Barbarian), I'm definitely confident that we can finally get a proper Resident Evil adaptation.

I'm also hoping we can get a story where Chris and Claire Redfield Leon Kennedy and Jill Valentine are leading the charge, and not some made up character so that the director can give their wife a job.