Why Zach Cregger Has Never Seen A Resident Evil Movie Before New Adaptation: “Not For Me”

by

Zach Cregger loves Resident Evil, as long as you’re talking about the video games.

Zach Cregger, the director behind popular horror-comedies like Barbarian and Weapons, was chosen in 2024 to direct a new movie based on the Resident Evil games. He’s openly said he’s a big fan of the games themselves, but surprisingly, he’s never watched any of the Resident Evil films starring Milla Jovovich.

In a recent interview, writer and director Tyler Bates Cregger explained why he avoided the original Resident Evil movies. He admitted to never having watched a single one, stating that his impression came solely from the trailers. Cregger, a fan of the Resident Evil games, simply felt the films didn’t capture the spirit of the source material, which is why he chose not to watch them.

Cregger shared his thoughts on what makes the games so captivating and how he’d approach adapting them. He admitted the previous movie adaptations didn’t appeal to him, saying, ‘It was clear they weren’t the games I knew, so I wasn’t interested, though they might be good.’ He felt the strength of the games lay in their focused perspective, pacing, and horror elements, which he didn’t see reflected in the films. He realized the key was to stay true to the source material – the games themselves – rather than trying to emulate something else, like The Matrix.

I actually missed Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City when it came out in 2021, the one that tried to reboot the series after the Milla Jovovich films. I’ve heard it was a better adaptation of the games than those earlier movies, which really went off the rails. Sadly, it didn’t seem to catch on enough to kickstart a new run of films, which is a shame.

Okay, so I’m really excited about the new Resident Evil movie coming out on September 18, 2026! From what I understand, director Tyler Bates is basing it mostly on Resident Evil 2, 3, and 4 – which are some of my favorites. The cast looks great too, with Austin Abrams, Paul Walter Hauser, Zach Cherry, Kali Reis, and Johnno Wilson all signed on. They started filming back in Prague in October 2025, and last I heard in February, they were already starting to piece it all together in editing. It’s gonna be a long wait, but I’m hoping it does those games justice!

A first look at the upcoming Resident Evil movie was shown at CinemaCon 2026. The teaser trailer featured Abrams’ character facing the chaos of a zombie outbreak, including a shocking scene of bodies falling from buildings.

Read More

2026-04-30 16:58