Zach Cregger to Direct New Resident Evil Movie

There is a moment near the end of Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil when Austin Abrams plays a bumbling protagonist named Bryan who finally gives up all hope. After arriving at the hospital where scientists are developing a cure for the zombie virus in a top-secret lab, Bryan hits a dead end due to an out-of-order elevator. He responds by removing his shirt, sitting on the concrete floor of the hospital basement garage, and crying.

Shirtless and pudgy, Austin Abrams looks particularly pathetic in this scene. Much of the comedy in Resident Evil comes from Bryan’s sheer stupidity in the face of various threats and challenges. Moments later, the camera pans to an open staircase directly in his field of vision, emphasizing just how foolish the character truly is.

Cregger cast Austin Abrams as the lead and encouraged him not to get into shape for a specific reason. In an interview with Polygon, the director explained why he chose an unskilled medical courier as his protagonist rather than writing a script about Leon Kennedy, the cop-turned-government agent from the video game franchise.

“I’d rather watch a movie starring a schlub who’s, like, out of shape and has never fired a gun before,” Cregger said. “I wanna see that guy get chased through this gauntlet.”

The critical and commercial success of Resident Evil validates that choice. The movie earned a 95% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes alongside a 91% audience score and grossed $60 million at the box office. A sequel appears certain, even though Cregger stated he will not return to the franchise anytime soon. Regardless of what happens with Resident Evil 2, Hollywood should learn from the film that video game adaptations benefit from ordinary characters like Bryan who serve as audience stand-ins.

Ironically, Resident Evil shares this narrative strategy with another video game adaptation released in September 2026. While Zach Cregger dominates the box office, Paramount Plus released a series based on the 1989 arcade game Golden Axe. Created by Mike McMahan of Rick and Morty and Star Trek: Lower Decks alongside Joe Chandler, the show focuses on a trio of battle-hardened heroes while introducing an inexperienced character to the dynamic.

That character is Hampton Squib, played by Danny Pudi, an adventurer who tags along and shows more interest in making friends than fighting. Hampton initially appears to be a chosen-one hero with untapped potential akin to Harry Potter or Luke Skywalker, but the story reveals he is merely a wealthy, unskilled youth.

Danny Pudi explained to Polygon why this twist defines the series.

“In a lot of media, you see this idea of a hero who all of a sudden can do everything and understands the rules of combat,” the actor said. “Hampton’s still figuring it out.”

Like Bryan in Resident Evil, Hampton provides an audience surrogate that the original video game did not require. Video games thrive on power fantasies where players control grizzled cops shooting zombies or warriors wielding broadswords against warlocks. Movies and comedies, however, require relatable protagonists.

This perspective also clarifies why the recent Mortal Kombat films struggled to win over audiences. The 2021 film introduced Cole Young, played by Lewis Tan, as an audience surrogate, but making him an actual chosen one prevented viewers from relating to him. The 2026 sequel addressed this by eliminating Cole in favor of Johnny Cage, played by Karl Urban, an incompetent action star who appeased game fans and gave viewers a grounded hero.

Director Kitao Sakurai is steering the upcoming Street Fighter movie toward the absurdity of the source material. Further out, Noah Hawley’s Far Cry series cast Rob McElhenney from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Mythic Quest in the lead role. Rob McElhenney has built a career playing overconfident characters, which points toward another promising video game adaptation.

Resident Evil and Golden Axe indicate that Hollywood may have solved the formula for adapting video games. Hopefully, the industry will continue this trend rather than reverting to power fantasies centered on infallible officers.

Resident Evil is in theaters now. Golden Axe is streaming on Paramount Plus.

Source: Polygon