Of the many upcoming films we’ve been keeping track of, Zach Cregger‘s take on Resident Evil has been one of the big ones. Cregger has made a name for himself off the back to back successes of Barbarian and Weapons. He wrote and directed both of them, helping to make him a driving creative force in the horror genre. The latter even scored an Academy Award win for Amy Madigan in her role as Aunt Gladys. So when we learned about Cregger‘s involvement in a reboot of Resident Evil, our interest was piqued. Now we have a teaser of what to expect.
One Bad Night
Those who were able to attend CinemaCon had a chance to get a peak at what we’re seeing today. Cregger was there and dropping some information about what to expect from this upcoming film. To put the footage in context, we’re not getting an adaptation of the events of the games. What we’re getting is a side-story that takes place during the events of Resident Evil 2. We’re introduced to a young man named Bryan, played by Austin Abrams. He’s a medical courier who we see making a phone call. He’s telling a loved one they may never see each other again.
In the footage, we get to see why that separation, and fear of never reuniting, is a likely occurrence. It’s a dark and snowy night, so not all the horrors are directly visible. A body gets dragged into the darkness, a large, bloated zombie is sitting ominously, and human limbs crawl out of a doorway. All kinds of horrors seem to be happening around a man who’s not prepared for any of it. These really aren’t the things you want to be experiencing if you’re hoping to see home, alive.
Paying Tribute to the Source Material
In an homage to the games, Bryan scours through drawers to find ammo and supplies. Any true Resident Evil fan knows the joys of drawer scavenging. At one point, he picks up a shotgun but Bryan’s mostly doing a lot of running. One scene shows him running through the streets while bodies plummet off of rooftops. They land with bloody thumps onto the cars below. If the movie is aiming to match the pacing of the games, it seems to be succeeding.
We’re hopeful that this is the shot in the arm that the franchise needs to get its cinematic footing back. Capcom has long wanted to push Resident Evil into theaters and televisions but several of its latest attempts have failed pretty hard. With Cregger’s pedigree and a look at some of this film via the teaser, this could be the best film in the franchise’s history. We’re eagerly awaiting future trailers in the lead up to Resident Evil hitting theaters on September 18th, 2026.
