New Resident Evil Movie Set in RE2 Timeline; Director Says Protagonist Is an Avatar of Himself
While we’ve had a lot of live-action adaptations of Resident Evil, the one in development right now looks to be the best one yet.
Helmed by lauded director Zach Cregger (Weapons, Barbarian), the movie adaptation’s first trailer has made its way out today, and it showcases the film’s vibe, as well as our first look at the protagonist named Bryan, who’s played by Austin Abrams (Weapons, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark).
If you’re wondering who Bryan is in the Resident Evil canon, you’ll be hard-pressed to find the name. It’s an entirely new character created just for the movie, and Cregger explains why.
Resident Evil Movie’s First Trailer Brings the Horror Vibe
For those wondering, Bryan is an all-new character created just for the movie. When asked whether if the character is similar to Grace Ashcroft in Requiem or to Ethan Winters in Resident Evil 7, in the sense that they’re normal people (without training like Leon) just dropped in the world and do not know what they’re doing, Cregger answered candidly that the character is what he thinks the average game player would reactt if they were dropped into the game themselves, and what’s more, even mentioned how he saw the film’s protagonist as an avatar of himself.
Cregger mentioned, “Austin is very much like an avatar for me, or what I expect the average video game player would react if they were thrust into the game themselves. So he’s just a normal guy. He’s not particularly good at combat in any way, shape, or form. He’s athletic, but he’s not an athlete, he’s just a guy. He’s just a good natured, hapless dude who gets sucked into a nightmare. And so it was really fun to just think, how would I react authentically if I saw a mutant dog attack me? What would that gamut of emotion look like? And Austin’s just so fun to watch, he’s perfect for it.”
In the same chat, Cregger confirmed that the game’s timeline is set during Resident Evil 2, though there are changes made for dramatic license and whatnot.
“So the world of [Resident Evil] 2 is kind of where this takes place, even though I’d make a couple of little shifts for dramatic license. It’s just following a different person who’s on a mission in this horrible night when things are going wrong in Raccoon City, and they’ve got to get something from point A to point B. And as they go, they encounter all of the same sorts of things you would encounter in the games. I wanted to keep true to like [in the games], you start with a pistol, you graduate to a shotgun, and then eventually you find an MP5. You’re always worried about how many bullets you have, and you’re getting injured and all those things. So it was such a fun challenge for me to try and write a game as a movie,” Cregger noted.
While the first trailer doesn’t feel like Resident Evil, it does look like a solid horror movie. After what we’ve been through with Paul W.S. Anderson’s Resident Evil movies, I’m all for anything different.
Resident Evil the movie will hit theaters on September 18 later this year.
In other Resident Evil news, a new DLC update is set to hit in May for Resident Evil Requiem, and this will add new mini games, which is different from the story expansion promised by Capcom.
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