Zach Cregger's Resident Evil Movie Revives a Franchise That Was on Ice
Constantin Films had planned to rest the Resident Evil film franchise after the 2021 reboot flopped, but director Zach Cregger approached the studio with a pitch so different it changed their minds. The new movie opens September 18 and could deliver the franchise's biggest opening weekend yet.
Constantin Films had decided to let the Resident Evil film franchise rest after the disappointing box office performance of 2021's Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City. That plan changed when director Zach Cregger approached the studio with a vision for the property that its leadership had never considered.
Constantin Films CEO Oliver Berben recounted the origins of the project during an appearance on The Town, explaining that the company owned the film rights and was looking for an entirely new approach before committing to another installment. Cregger, fresh off the success of Barbarian, reached out together with producer Roy Lee to ask whether the franchise was available.
«Zach Cregger actually approached us, together with Roy Lee,» Berben said. «He basically came to us and asked if this franchise, if this IP, was available.»
Berben acknowledged that the timing made the offer unusual. The studio was still recovering from the 2021 reboot's poor reception, and Cregger had only Barbarian to his name as a horror director at that point. «It wasn't at all that everybody was jumping on it immediately,» Berben said.
What convinced Constantin was the specificity of Cregger's pitch. The director met with co-president Robert Kulzer at a cafe in Beverly Hills and laid out the entire film, from tone to structure. Berben described the presentation as radically different from anything the studio had done before, calling it «more moody, more like the game.»
Cregger's background as a player of the Resident Evil games shaped his approach. According to Berben, the director had not seen the live-action films directed by Paul W.S. Anderson, which freed him from the established visual and narrative template. Instead, he pitched a story about a «normal guy» thrown into a nightmarish situation, a concept that won over the studio's leadership.
The project marks a significant shift for a franchise that has cycled through multiple creative directions over two decades. Cregger's version arrives as the Resident Evil games enjoy a resurgence, with several recent hits renewing interest in the property. That momentum, combined with the director's rising profile after Barbarian and his follow-up film Weapons, has positioned the movie as a potential commercial breakthrough.
Cregger has been promoting the film ahead of its September 18 release. He recently said the movie was originally funnier before he dialed back the jokes, and he has also weighed in on the debate over physical versus digital video games, saying he is comfortable with digital releases despite being aware of their potential drawbacks.
Box office analysts are projecting a strong debut. Estimates suggest the film could earn between $40 million and $50 million in North America alone during its opening weekend, which would make it the best launch in the franchise's film history.
For Constantin Films, the bet on Cregger represents a deliberate break from the past. The studio had been prepared to leave the property alone indefinitely, and the decision to move forward depended entirely on a filmmaker who arrived with a complete vision and a different relationship to the source material than his predecessors.
Whether that vision translates into a lasting revival will become clearer when the movie reaches theaters. For now, the franchise that was once on ice has a release date, a director with momentum, and projections pointing toward its strongest opening yet.
