Zach Cregger Is Making a RESIDENT EVIL Movie Without Having Seen One, and He Thinks Fans Will Be Stoked
Zach Cregger, the filmmaker behind Barbarian and the upcoming Weapons, is tackling Resident Evil. What makes this especially wild is that Cregger has never actually seen a Resident Evil movie before, but he’s not letting that stop him.
In a recent interview with the Double Toasted podcast, Cregger confirmed he’s deep into developing his take on Capcom’s iconic horror franchise.
"All I can say is that it is true to the experience of the games, andtakes place in the world of the games."
According to Cregger, the story will keep things focused and faithful, and explains:
"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."
The film, which is currently slated for a 2026 release, will star Euphoria actor Austin Abrams as an original protagonist crafted for the story.
Fans of the games know that Resident Evil is all about atmosphere, dread, and that slow-burn feeling of being trapped in escalating horror. Cregger says he’s no stranger to that.
"I’ve played many thousands and thousands of hours of Resident Evil, and I just feel like I know how that pacing can go."
While previous movies starring Milla Jovovich leaned hard into over-the-top action, often drifting far from the games, Cregger is aiming for something different.
"It’s inherently cinematic," he said of the franchise, promising that his adaptation will be "a much bigger scale than Weapons, and certainly Barbarian. And [...] I’ve never seen a movie like it."
He then admitted:
"I’ve never seen a Resident Evil movie, and so, you know, 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."
I actually like the fact that he’s never seen any of those Resident Evil movies because it means he’s not being influenced by them while making his own.
With Weapons crossing $200 million at the box office, Cregger has already proven he knows how to deliver something big and unexpected. Now he’s setting his sights on one of the most beloved horror properties in gaming.
Whether or not you’ve liked the previous Resident Evil movies, it sounds like Cregger is steering this one back to where it belongs… deep in the nightmare.