New "Resident Evil" Movie in Works from "Barbarian" Director Zach Cregger

A new take on the  Resident Evil franchise is on the way from Barbarian director Zach Cregger, who will write and direct the latest entry in the zombie-virus saga, which is the subject of a fierce bidding war.

The survival horror Resident Evil franchise has come a long way since its first appearance as a PlayStation game in the 1990s. Spawning several game sequels, a successful but panned movie franchise starring Milla Jovovich, and a number of anime movies, the live-action franchise appeared to come to an end with "Resident Evil: The Final Chapter" in 2016. 

However, horror movies with “The Final Chapter” as a subtitle rarely live up to the promise, and no one believed that this was the last time Resident Evil would be adapted. That came in 2021’s "Welcome to Raccoon City", one of the only entries to faithfully adapt the original video games, which still failed to impress critics, but was appreciated by those who played the first Resident Evil games almost three decades earlier. 

Afterward, Resident Evil was revived again in a Netflix TV series, which enlisted a talented cast including the late Lance Reddick, scored higher than the movies with critics, but was a massive disappointment to audiences and was canceled after a single season.

The Resident Evil games were originally set in a creepy old mansion and the surrounding area of Raccoon City. However, throughout the series, the storylines have expanded into some very different areas, leaving behind the original premise to deliver something less repetitive. 

Per The Hollywood Reporter, Cregger’s Resident Evil movie will instead be rehashing the same old story once again and will “take the title back to its horror roots and be more faithful to the initial games.” 

However, "Welcome to Raccoon City" not only delivered something that remained faithful to the first games of the franchise but even inserted several cut-scenes from the games directly into it. It made the decision for the new movie to seemingly follow suit a little questionable, however, Cragger seriously impressed with "Barbarian", so he could be the one to finally deliver a Resident Evil movie that redeems the several misfires.

Before Cragger gets his claws into the Resident Evil franchise, he will be releasing the new movie "Weapons", in cinemas on January 16, 2026, which has been called “a multi and inter-related story horror epic that tonally is in the vein of Magnolia.”