Cregger: Resident Evil Stunt Nearly Killed Austin Abrams
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- Zach Cregger described a sequence where 150-lb "body-sized blood bags" were dropped from cranes around star Austin Abrams, opting for real explosions over VFX because "it would just look like VFX" otherwise.
- Cregger told a Q&A that one bag nearly hit Abrams: "It would've killed him. If he had been one step to the right, he would have died."
- The scene, visible briefly in the trailer, features Abrams running down a street as zombie bodies fall from rooftop cranes on either side, achieved through heavily rehearsed choreography.
- Abrams plays medical courier Bryan in the Sony film, which premieres Sept. 18 in theaters and was co-written with Shay Hatten.
- The cast expanded to include Zach Cherry, Kali Reis, Paul Walter Hauser, and Johnno Wilson.
- Sony's film adapts the 1996 Capcom video game; the franchise has produced seven films since 2002 and surpassed $1.2 billion at the global box office.
- Netflix canceled its own Resident Evil series after one season in 2022, leaving Sony's film as the franchise's current big-screen effort.
Why it matters: Cregger's commitment to 150-lb practical blood bags over VFX on a Sony tentpole underscores a director-driven insistence on in-camera action for Resident Evil, a franchise that has already earned $1.2 billion across seven films since 2002 and gets its Sept. 18 theatrical relaunch.
