Zach Cregger, writer/director of Barbarian and Weapons, is directing a new Resident Evil movie for Sony, aiming for a September 18, 2026 theatrical release. Cregger has said that his movie will be “obedient to the lore” of the Resident Evil video games, but won’t be about the characters from the games, because their stories have already been told in game form. Now, during an interview with Empire, Cregger said the film follows an idiot through a gauntlet.
What is this Resident Evil about?
Cregger wrote the screenplay with Shay Hatten (Army of the Dead) and the story apparently harkens back to the original Capcom game’s horror roots. Here’s the logline that leaked a while back: Bryan, a laid-back organ courier, is sent on a late-night delivery to Raccoon City General Hospital. En route through a snowy mountain road, he accidentally hits a strange woman with his car. She survives—but something is very wrong. As he tries to help, Bryan stumbles into a full-blown outbreak involving horrifying tentacle-based mutations and bio-engineered monstrosities.
And here’s the official synopsis: From the mind of visionary filmmaker Zach Cregger (Weapons, Barbarian) comes a thrilling — and terrifying — reinvention of the Resident Evil franchise. In an all-new story, Resident Evil follows Bryan (Austin Abrams), a medical courier who unwittingly finds himself in an action-packed, non-stop race for survival as one fateful, horrifying night collapses around him in chaos.
Who’s in the cast?
Weapons cast member Austin Abrams has the lead role and is joined in the cast by Paul Walter Hauser (Cobra Kai), Zach Cherry (Severance), Johnno Wilson (I Love That for You), and the previously mentioned Kali Reis. Cherry is said to be playing a scientist at a hospital and Reis is set to play an ex-military character that was initially written for a male actor.
What has been said about Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil?
Cregger, a big fan of the Resident Evil video games who has never watched any of the previous movies, has said, “It’s gonna be not at all like Barbarian and Weapons. It’s going to be a rock ’em, sock ’em… it’s for me to play. And turn my brain off and just make an… Evil Dead II… get crazy with the camera. … It’s a weird, fun, wild story. This movie follows a person from point A to point B. It’s like a real time journey, where you just go deeper and deeper into the depths of Hell.“ The filmmaker was given carte blanche to do whatever he wanted with the property.
Constantin Film is producing and co-financing the film. Constantin, Vertigo Entertainment, and PlayStation Productions are also producing. Here’s the list of producers: Robert Kulzer, Zach Cregger, Roy Lee, Miri Yoon, Carter Swan, and Asad Qizilbash. Executive producers: Oliver Berben, Victor Hadida, Richard Wright, and Robert Bernacci. Nicole Brown is overseeing the project for Sony’s Columbia Pictures. Lee has said that Cregger is delivering “a roller coaster ride of nonstop action.“
Speaking with Empire, Cregger said, “They were kind enough to hear me out and let me run with it. It’s really a Zach Cregger movie that just happens to be a Resident Evil movie. The concept here is that we’re following an idiot. Not that he’s stupid, but he’s not your typical game character, with no combat skills whatsoever and completely inept at survival. Bryan is very much an everyman who happens to be burdened with this kind of sacred mission that’s going to take him into the heart of everything. It’s kind of like Frodo going into Mordor.“
He added, “It feels like one gigantic sequence. Things pop off about five minutes in and it basically stays like that until the end. What I love about the games is that you move from set-piece to set-piece. Every location has a unique challenge. So again, I’m borrowing from the games directly in that rhythm, where you’re just running through a gauntlet.“
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