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It’s been three years since a live-action Resident Evil movie last graced the silver screen. It appears that’s just enough time for the brass at Sony to consider another reboot of the long-running franchise based on Capcom’s best-selling video games. This time though, it sounds like the studio is courting one of the hottest horror directors of the moment. Namely Barbarian director Zach Cregger.
According to a recent report from The InSneider, Cregger is in discussions to potentially helm a new Resident Evil movie. It would be the first live-action entry in the series since 2021’s Welcome to Raccoon City, which rebooted the series following 2017’s Resident Evil: The Final Chapter. We first heard reports in May 2023 that a new entry in the franchise was in the works, but this is the first we’ve heard since. While this is by no means set in stone for the time being, the report notes that Cregger was being eyed to direct a new take on Clue for the studio. That isn’t going forward, but this has now come up as a possibility for Cregger as his career continues to take off like a rocket.
Cregger’s Barbarian was a surprise hit in 2022, taking in $45 million at the box office against a mere $4.5 million budget. Against rave reviews, it was enough to rocket him to stardom behind the camera. He signed a deal with Warner Bros. and New Line, with the director currently working on his new movie Weapons for the studio. That deal, however, doesn’t prevent him from taking other jobs outside of the WB sphere. It seems Sony is eager to work with Cregger as well.
At the very least, this film would have to wait until Cregger is done with Weapons, so filming couldn’t begin until late next year at the earliest, in all likelihood. That would give audiences more time to breathe after the relative disappointment of Welcome to Raccoon City though, which isn’t a bad thing.
Whether or not it’s Cregger in the director’s chair or someone else, another movie feels inevitable. Capcom’s games continue to do very well, with Resident Evil 9 currently in the works. Netflix produced a short-lived TV show based on the games, and last year saw the release of an animated film titled Resident Evil: Death Island. This is a cash cow and Hollywood is going to continue to milk it, if you’ll excuse the graphic metaphor.
The new Resident Evil movie doesn’t have a release date but stay tuned. For more, check out Fango’s 20-year retrospective on the first Resident Evil movie.
