When Weapons released earlier this summer most of us let out a collective “Holy shit!” It felt like we were finally getting the original horror movie that we’d been begging for. And given how good Zach Cregger’s first film Barbarian was, it really felt like we may have found a new original voice in the genre. So it was a bit of a disappointment to find out that Cregger’s next film would be an entry in the Resident Evil franchise. Not to say that he couldn’t knock it out of the park, but it’s hard to hear that he’s not doing something original next. But he says fret not! As his new interpretation apparently “feels in-line with my sensibility, has my sense of tone.”
Cregger has still been doing the press rounds for Weapons, and some more info dropped regarding his Resident Evil when speaking with Double Toasted. He assured game fans that, despite it not following characters from the games, it will still feel like a Resident Evil story. “All I can say is that it is true to the experience of the games,” he said. “It takes place in the world of the games, but most importantly the journey you’ll have as a viewer of watching this movie is going to be similar to the journey you have as a player when you play these games. And what that means is it follows one protagonist from point A to point B as they just descend deeper and deeper and deeper into hell.”
He also got into what tone his movie would be going for, which seems to further show off his experience with the game franchise itself, which should come as a relief to fans, “It probably lives more in the world of 2 and 3, but I’d say it adheres more to the tone of 4,” he said. “But you know, the thing about the games is that the game franchise itself is incredibly malleable. 2 and 3 take place in Raccoon City, and then 4 takes place in Spain, and it feels like it’s in the past even though it’s not. And then 7 is like a Texas Chainsaw kind of a thing. And then 8 is like some ancient European village and definitely in the past….So, the games don’t even have some sort of a set lore. It’s not rigid. And so I don’t think I’m taking any more liberties with this than the game franchise does at all. So I’m coloring within the lines.”
Finally, he did admit that he’d never watched the Milla Jovovich films or the reboot Welcome to Raccoon City (something I wish I could say myself). “I’m a huge fan of the games,” Cregger said. “Now, I’ve never seen a Resident Evil movie. I imagine that if there are people out there that are just rabid fans of the movie franchise, they’re probably not really prepared for what I’m going to be doing. But I think the people that are fans of the games are probably going to be stoked.”
While I certainly wish that we were getting a fully original film from Cregger, it does sound like the Resident Evil franchise is finally in good hands. Here’s hoping he can revitalize the property and give us the big screen Resident Evil film that fans have been hoping for.
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