Zach Cregger, writer/director of Barbarian (watch it HERE) and the upcoming film Weapons, which is scheduled to reach theatres on August 8th, is set to direct a new Resident Evil movie for Sony, aiming for a September 18, 2026 theatrical release. Little is known about Cregger’s approach to the video game adaptation, but during a recent interview with ComicBook.com, Cregger said he thinks his movie is going to “rip” – and admitted that he has never seen the other Resident Evil movies.
We’ve previously heard that Cregger is writing the screenplay with Shay Hatten (Army of the Dead) and the story apparently harkens back to the original Capcom game’s horror roots. The story is rumored to center on a down-on-his-luck courier who’s tasked with delivering a package to a remote hospital. En route, he finds himself caught in the middle of a viral apocalypse and forced to fight hordes of mutated creatures. That hasn’t been confirmed, just like the rumors that the film could star Austin Abrams (Wolfs) and Mickey Madison (Anora) haven’t been confirmed.
Constantin Film is producing and co-financing the film. Constantin’s Robert Kulzer, Vertigo Entertainment’s Roy Lee and Miri Yoon, and PlayStation Productions are also producing. Nicole Brown will be overseeing the project for Sony’s Columbia Pictures.
When he first got the job, Cregger provided the following statement: “I’ve been a rabid fan of these games for decades and to be able to bring this amazing title to life is a true honor.” Kulzer added, “The world of Resident Evil experienced through Zach’s vision is an irresistible feat.” And Sanford Panitch, President of Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, had this to say: “Zach is one of the most talented, exciting new directors to come on the scene in many years. His brilliant approach in restarting and refreshing this legendary Sony franchise instantly makes this one of our most important releases in 2026.“
Cregger has also said, “There’s a moment that comes in every Resident Evil game where you find yourself standing in the mouth of a dark passageway. One shot in the gun is left. You know that something horrible is waiting for you in that darkness, that awful moment where you have to will yourself. That’s something that every Resident Evil game has perfected and has kept me and millions of other players returning to the series for decades.” His film “will be built in the spirit of those games and follows one central protagonist from point A to point B, as they descend deeper into Hell.“
Paul W.S. Anderson built a franchise of six Resident Evil movies, running from Resident Evil in 2002 to Resident Evil: The Final Chapter in 2017. In 2021, the franchise was rebooted with director Johannes Roberts’ Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City. A while back, we heard that a follow-up to Welcome to Raccoon City was in the works, as Raccoon HG Film Productions, the company that was behind that film, was said to be gearing up to go into production on a project called Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles (based on the 2002 video game Resident Evil Zero) in Greater Sudbury, a city in Ontario, Canada. That project didn’t make it into production, though.
Cregger told ComicBook.com he was drawn to join the franchise because “I love the games. I played all of the games. I played Resident Evil 4 a hundred times through. I’m obsessed with it. And so, I just want to tell a story that feels like it’s honoring the experience you get when you play the games. I haven’t seen the movies, that’s just not my thing. But the games are my thing. That’s just a playground I just love….I think the movie is going to rip. I think it’s going to rip.”
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