Say what you will about the Resident Evil movie series from Paul W. S. Anderson. The films were extremely profitable, ultimately becoming one of the highest-grossing horror franchises of all time. Although some familiar characters may have shown up in the films, there was very little else in common as Anderson took the story in a new direction with star Milla Jovovich. So, even though Anderson decided to finally bring an end to Alice’s story, the film franchise is expected to start from scratch with an all new reboot.
While we knew a new Resident Evil movie was in the works, we didn’t have any details. Would we be seeing another entirely original story loosely inspired by events and characters from the games, as was Anderson’s approach? Or will the film have much more in common with the video games, much like the unused screenplay from George A. Romero? While nothing is yet official, it seems now we have an answer as to what we might be able to expect from the new movie.
According to screenwriter Greg Russo, who was hired by Sony to write the script, the reboot’s screenplay is heavily inspired by the latest game in the series, Resident Evil VII: Biohazard. That game was widely praised for its darker tone compared to previous entries, bringing the franchise back to its survival horror roots. Russo is hoping to capture that same feeling by using the game to influence the new film’s story.
“Obviously, I’m a huge fan of the franchise so to work on that was a lot of fun. And they’ve made six films before so when you come back to that and reboot it, you wanna do something different and not just rehash. For me it was very clear-cut that I wanted to go back and make it scary again like a horror film in terms of the classic James Wan style so that was the pitch, going back and looking what made the games scary in the first place so yea Resident Evil 7 was a bit of a touchstone for my draft.”
However, Russo did note that while producers were happy with his screenplay, there’s no guarantee it will be used. Production on the film has not yet begun, nor do we have an official release date. We’ll continue to keep an eye on the potential film’s progress, so stay tuned for more updates!
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