It’s not long until Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil movie, and much of the conversation’s surrounded its fidelity to the games.
Instead of starring a named character like Leon Kennedy or one of the Redfields, the film centers on a courier named Bryan tasked with delivering something to Raccoon City. That Austin Abrams is playing just a dude scrambling to survive a wintery night as zombies try to feast on him doesn’t fit with fans’ perception of the games, something Cregger’s addressed before. If he isn’t explaining his attempt to capture the games’ spirit, he’s talking about parts of a particular entry that’ve stuck with him in some kind of way.
By his admission, Cregger told IGN it might’ve been “naive” on his part to think fans would automatically be cool with his focus on an original character. He didn’t see the previous live-action movies because they “didn’t look like the Resident Evil I love, so how could I be frustrated with fans who have that same attitude?” At this point, he just wants fans to come out of it “feeling seen and recognize all the love for the games are in this movie, because it is there. […] This is me telling a Resident Evil story.”
Cregger understands those reactions stem from “true love,” he does seem to be at his limit a bit. Talking separately to The Playlist, he acknowledged the monthslong “apology tour” he’s been on, likening it to “running for office, trying to get these people to not call me a LARPer. […] Now I’m just like, ‘You know what? See the movie.’ If you still feel the same way after, then that’s fair. I think the movie is going to speak for itself.”
Fortunately for Cregger, Resident Evil comes out September 18. After that, he can stop talking about how the movie isn’t the games and instead how he came up with its freaky zombie situations and scariest moments.
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