Sci-Fi Bulletin: Exploring the Universes of SF, Fantasy, Horror and Spy-fi!

With Zach Cregger’s new movie, Weapons, opening to acclaim and financial success, his next project is already on deck and it’s a return to an old, gooey friend, notes Alasdair Stuart.

Cregger has been confirmed as the writer and director for the new Resident Evil movie. Based on the iconic series of games following various hapless survivors battling against (at first anyway) the undead genetic monstrosities released by the Umbrella Corporation, the movie will be the third bite at the cinematic apple for the franchise.

It shares some interesting DNA with the first attempt too. That was a series of increasingly maniacal, and often really fun, movies starring Milla Jovovich as Alice, a mysterious woman who wakes up in a deserted mansion that stops being deserted very quickly. If you’ve never seen them, honestly jump in, the ride is great. They’re also an interesting approach to adaptation, choosing to place a new character inside an existing world and use the franchise’s core characters as support players. It often works very well, and that approach is the one Cregger is taking. In an interview with Inverse, he described his approach as

‘…outside of the characters of the games. It’s obedient to the lore of the games, it’s just a different story.”

Which honestly is the smartest possible approach. So many video game adaptations have struggled with adapting the core narrative precisely because a lot of video games have protagonists who are ‘fiction suits’ the player puts on. By stepping outside that approach, and dropping an original character in, Cregger can hook people unfamiliar with the labyrinthian lore of the games and also still play with the toys fans want to see.

It’s a smart approach and one that will apparently see Austin Abrams, one of Creggers’ Weapons cast, return in some capacity.

Very early days on this one but honestly, Cregger’s a great choice and he’s making smart decision already. This could be a fun one.