Resident Evil Director: 'I Wouldn't Call This a Zombie Movie Necessarily'

With the archetypal trailer of Sony’s upcoming Resident Evil reboot present retired successful the chaotic similar the T-Virus, infecting fans everywhere, we sat down with manager Zach Cregger (Barbarian, Weapons) to interruption down this archetypal look astatine the video crippled adaptation. Along the way, we got the ungraded connected Austin Abrams’ quality Brian, tried to get to the bottommost of what the woody is with the dude who looks similar Dune’s Baron Harkonnen, learned that determination aren’t going to beryllium a ton of zombies successful this peculiar Resident Evil movie, and besides discussed Cregger’s wide attack to bringing the classical fearfulness crippled bid to the large screen.

Read connected for the highlights from our chat, oregon ticker the afloat video breakdown above!

It Exists Alongside Resident Evil 2

“This is for sure, barroom none, my astir visually gonzo movie,” says Cregger. “Basically, my regularisation for this movie was to conscionable effort and marque a movie that felt similar my acquisition of playing the games that could unrecorded successful the satellite of Resident Evil. So I consciousness similar this movie takes spot alongside the events of Resident Evil 2. I similar to deliberation that everything that's going connected successful the constabulary presumption could beryllium happening successful this world. This is conscionable different dude connected different ngo connected the different broadside of municipality and what's going connected with him. It's not canon, successful that I'm not utilizing the characters, but it's canon successful that it lives successful the existent time of reckoning successful Raccoon City.”

Abrams’ Brian is the main absorption of the trailer, arsenic helium attempts to question from the outskirts of the iconic metropolis to the halfway of it. Along the way, Cregger says Brian volition spell done a “gauntlet of acceptable pieces” arsenic helium gets deeper and deeper into town.

'This is for sure, barroom none, my astir visually gonzo movie.'“

“What I emotion astir the games is that each acceptable portion brings with it unsocial caller horrors,” helium says. “And truthful I wanted the bushed to consciousness similar it was ever changing. It was ever shifting. You were ever facing progressively bigger dangers and you had to beryllium alert of assets absorption and wellness and things similar that. So I truly did usage a batch of cues from the games connected however to physique this happening out.”

The manager acknowledges that helium “fully, obsessively” loves the games, and arsenic such, the movie is simply a emotion missive to them. Specifically, 1 facet of the games that helium adores is however the subordinate graduates from limb to weapon, and we spot successful the trailer that Brian has a pistol aboriginal on. But arsenic helium progresses, he'll postgraduate to the shotgun, and past yet he’ll get an MP5 instrumentality gun.

“That's 1 of the amusive things astir playing these games is whenever you get the caller weapon, you're like, ‘Oh, fucking convey God,” helium says. “And truthful his quality benignant of has that absorption arsenic helium does it.”

And adjacent if you person a weapon, you inactive request ammo for said weapon…

“One of the things that is truthful integral to playing Resident Evil is you're perpetually searching for healing items and ammunition, right?” Cregger says, referring to the scenes erstwhile Brian is rummaging done drawers. “He's recovered a shotgun, he's got nary shells, he's got to find the shells. So he's got to comb this location for these captious bits of ammunition. And you can't truly bash a due emotion missive to the games without that.”

Focusing connected ‘Weird Creature Stuff’ Over Zombies

“I conscionable truly emotion the thought of moving done a sewer, you person nary thought what's successful beforehand of you, and you travel astir a country and you spot a gigantic, obese, naked, hairless antheral conscionable sitting facing you,” says Cregger. “What is astir to spell down? I similar the question there. And what does spell down, I americium besides beauteous blessed with.”

The filmmaker explains that the mysterious fig successful the trailer who fans are already calling “that Baron Harkonnen benignant guy” was partially inspired by a quality named The Judge successful the publication Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy.

“I don't person a Nemesis successful this movie that the games use, which is similar this gigantic hulking Terminator that's pursuing you, but this is besides similar a small spot of a motion to the Nemesis,” says the director.

Regarding the weird infinitesimal successful the trailer erstwhile a clump of arms and legs scope retired from the darkened doorway of a house, and not conscionable scope out, but scope retired from immoderate seemingly intolerable angles, Cregger says that portion helium doesn’t privation to springiness excessively overmuch distant connected this point, it is simply a “mechanic” that he’s enactment into the movie arsenic acold arsenic however the infected interact with each other.

'Believe it oregon not, this movie doesn't utilize zombies that much.'“

“It mightiness beryllium successful immoderate of the games and I conscionable can't retrieve it,” helium says, “It's thing that benignant of pursues him passim the movie. … I'm truly excited for however this circumstantial creature, for deficiency of a amended term… however it changes and however it evolves implicit the people of the movie is truly fun. Believe it oregon not, this movie doesn't utilize zombies that much. It's overmuch much focused on, like, the weird carnal worldly than the zombies. There's truly lone 2 scenes, possibly 3 actually, present that I deliberation astir it, wherever there's similar due zombie worldly going on, and 2 of those 3 are successful this trailer.”

So from what we’ve seen truthful far, you’ve got the Baron benignant guy, there’s the limbs stretching retired of the door, and past there’s the substance of, arsenic Cregger puts it, the zombies “detonating around” Brian from the extremity of the trailer. Certainly determination volition beryllium overmuch much “weird carnal stuff” successful the last film, but those who are hoping for different zombie opus should incorporate their enthusiasm.

“I wouldn't telephone this similar a zombie movie necessarily,” helium says. “I conscionable consciousness similar you person this accidental for the T-Virus to bash each these truly fascinating things to the quality assemblage and to the satellite astir you. And truthful to conscionable bounds it to zombies feels similar a squandered opportunity. I tried to truly alteration it up.”

Creeping Through Dreadful Spaces

“A batch of this movie is similar 3rd person,” says Cregger. “So there's a Steadicam pursuing Austin, and it was truly a creation betwixt him and our camera relation [shooting with] a truly wide lens, and we're benignant of implicit his shoulder. So erstwhile helium looks left, we pivot astir to look left. And erstwhile helium looks right, we plaything astir and look right. I truly effort to incorporated conscionable the ocular connection of the games into the movie.”

That doesn’t mean that determination isn’t besides first-person shooter enactment successful the caller Resident Evil arsenic well, conscionable arsenic determination is successful the games sometimes. But the wide conception of being “right down the character” is the vibe the filmmaker was often going for, portion besides attempting to “drink in” the satellite that Brian has recovered himself in. It was besides important to Cregger to represent Brian arsenic a regular feline alternatively than a “badass with subject training.”

Resident Evil is coming to theaters successful September.

“He's moving dilatory done this world,” explains Cregger. “So if you've seen immoderate of my different movies, I similar to creep done these dreadful spaces. And Resident Evil's similar the cleanable playground for a feline similar maine who likes to conscionable truly instrumentality his clip turning down a hallway, opening a door, and waiting for that jack-in-the-box moment.”

Resident Evil volition beryllium released connected September 18, 2026.