Resident Evil Director Zach Cregger Confirms Plans for Sequels

Weapons director Zach Cregger is taking a very different approach with his new adaptation of Resident Evil. Rather than adapting the characters and narrative of Capcom’s survival-horror game franchise, Cregger is translating what it feels like to exist in one of Resident Evil‘s worst-case scenarios. Resident Evil follows a hapless medical courier, played by Austin Abrams, as he attempts to survive a journey to Raccoon City, which is infested with zombies and other monstrosities.

A sequel to Resident Evil is already looking likely.

The most important indicator that Resident Evil will spawn a sequel is the movie’s early box office performance. According to a report from Deadline, September’s Resident Evil is tracking toward a record-setting opening weekend for the franchise between $35 million and $50 million domestically. Sony Pictures must be happy about that, considering the previous movie in the franchise, 2021’s Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, finished its theatrical run with a $41.9 million worldwide haul.

Cregger might be on board for a sequel. He tells Polygon that he thought his Resident Evil journey would be a one-and-done flirtation with Capcom’s IP. After completing the film, he says he has more ideas for the franchise.

Resident Evil 2 is already on the table

In an interview with Cregger, Polygon editor-in-chief Matt Patches asked the director if he was hoping to kickstart the franchise for a possible new trilogy.

That was not what I was thinking when I was making the movie. I was thinking one and done. Now that it’s completed, I can’t help myself. This is just the way my brain works. I’ve already got other ideas of what could happen.

But my next movie is already kind of in place here, and it’s not a Resident Evil movie. I’m going to go make something else. But on the other side of that, who knows? Who can say? Anything could happen.

Resident Evil opens in movie theaters on Sept. 18. Cregger’s next movie, an original sci-fi story called The Flood, is slated for release on Aug. 11, 2028. Steven Spielberg’s production company Amblin Entertainment is producing the film, which Cregger calls maybe the best thing he ever wrote.

Source: Polygon