Zach Cregger’s forthcoming Resident Evil film will be an “entirely original story”, so won’t feature fan-favourite character Leon Kennedy.
The director of recent horror-hit Weapons spoke with Entertainment Weekly about his next film, based on Capcom’s game series.
“When you watch it, you’ll be like, ‘This is very Zach’,” he said. “It’s just [that] it takes place in the Resident Evil world. I don’t think fans of the games are gonna be bummed.”
Weapons star Austin Abrams will lead the Resident Evil film cast, with actor and professional wrestler Paul Walter Hauser also confirmed. Cregger has co-written the script with Shay Hatten.
“I’m not gonna steal Leon and put him in an original story. I think that would be presumptuous,” said Cregger. “But I respect the games enough where I’m gonna like tell a Resident Evil story in the Resident Evil canon that still leaves everything they love intact from the games, you know what I mean?”
He added: “I think that when you see it, you’ll understand how I can be obsessed with original ideas and still make a movie that is an IP-based thing. I know that doesn’t make a lot of sense now, but I hope that it will later.”
In a previous interview, Cregger stated the film “lives” in the world of Resident Evil 2 and 3, but “adheres more to the tone of 4”. What’s more, the viewing experience will be akin to the journey players take in the game, following a protagonist from A to B “as they just descend deeper and deeper and deeper into hell”.
Cregger’s Resident Evil film is set for a release on 18th September 2026.
