Resident Evil Director 'Not Prepared' for Fan Backlash — SkimNews
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- Zach Cregger says he was "not prepared" for the fan backlash against his new Resident Evil film, admitting to BBC Newsbeat he was "naive" in expecting fans to embrace a movie that honored the experience of playing the games rather than retelling their stories.
- Austin Abrams stars as Bryan, an original character and courier tasked with delivering a package to a hospital in Raccoon City, only to find himself caught in a viral outbreak that transforms the infected into monstrous creatures.
- Early reviews leaned positive — NME awarded three stars and asked whether the film is "the first great horror movie game adaptation," The Jam Report gave four stars, and Looper rated it 8 out of 10, with critics praising Cregger's adaptation as "translation rather than imitation."
- Constantin Film, the German production company that owns the Resident Evil live-action rights, has been blamed by fans for the perceived low quality of prior adaptations; reports say its agreement with Capcom prevents films from being set in the games' own timeline.
- Cregger told the BBC that nobody from Capcom ever contacted him during production, though BBC Newsbeat reports there was behind-the-scenes coordination between the game developer and the film's producers — a claim Constantin Film declined to comment on.
- Deadline reports the film is tracking toward a $50M+ U.S. opening weekend, which would set a new franchise record, despite a troubled critical history that includes six Paul WS Anderson films starring Milla Jovovich, a 2021 reboot, and a 2022 Netflix series that all failed to impress critics.
Why it matters: Cregger's bet on capturing the feeling of playing Resident Evil over faithfully recreating its lore risks alienating a devoted 213-million-copies-sold fanbase, yet Deadline projects a franchise-record $50M+ U.S. opening — suggesting the broader audience may reward a fresh horror vision more than canon-obsessed fans will tolerate one.
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