While adaptation doesn’t necessarily justify or elevate a work of art, there’s perhaps no better testament to the persistence and cultural resonance of the Resident Evil franchise than the fact that Hollywood has already tried and failed to bring it to live-action three separate times. Paul W.S. Anderson, Andrew Dabb, and Johannes Roberts each inhabited the beloved zombie series in their own way, only to be rejected by critics and fans for a wide variety of reasons. Part of it stems from a refusal to provide a straightforward adaptation of the games’ story, which has pros and cons, but part of it is also the fact that none of the three tellings focused on the creeping dread and survivalist desperation that made the first few games so chilling.
That could finally be set to change, however, as the next time Resident Evil returns to theaters, it’ll be courtesy of a trendy horror newcomer. Zach Cregger, in just two movies, has already become a contemporary champion of the genre, and he’s done it with movies that vary drastically in tone and subgenre. His first horror movie, Barbarian, was a throwback to ‘70s Tobe Hooper-adjacent exploitation shlock with an undercurrent of social commentary, and his second, Weapons, was a moodier, more thematically elusive witch movie. If anyone can recreate the oppressive terror of the original Resident Evil trilogy, it might just be him, and thankfully, we won’t have to wait long to see his vision of Raccoon City.
