Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil is “love letter to the game”, won’t feature Leon

zach creggers resident evilzach creggers resident evil
Last Updated on August 21, 2025

It’s hard to get excited about any Resident Evil movie considering they have all pretty much sucked. But with Barbarian and Weapons director Zach Cregger signed on to direct his own version of Resident Evil, we can officially be excited. Well, unless you don’t agree with his approach…

Zach Cregger recently spoke to Inverse about his forthcoming Resident Evil movie, where he once again reiterated that he is taking the world in the direction he wants to. Clearly aware how some of the more die-hard fans might take this, he defended himself by saying, “Let me say this: this is not breaking the rules of the games. 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.”

So what exactly does that mean? For one, don’t expect to see the beloved Leon S. Kennedy – who was first introduced in Resident Evil 2 and who was played by Johann Urb in Retribution and Avan Jogia in Welcome to Raccoon City – as Zach Cregger will place his movie “outside of the characters of the games…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.”

Zach Cregger has been quite transparent with fans of Resident Evil that his version won’t be everything they may expect or necessarily want (or think they want) in a movie, but right now this is a guy that horror fans should have the utmost faith in. And it probably helps that he hasn’t been tainted by the seven movies…

Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil will hit theaters on September 18th, 2026, which also marks the 30th anniversary of Capcom’s series. The film will be co-written by Cregger and Shay Hatten (John Wick 3 and 4, Army of the Dead).

Based on everything he has said about it so far, what do you want to see in Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil movie? Give us your thoughts in the comments section below.

Source: Inverse

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