Zach Cregger, director of the upcoming Resident Evil reboot, has laid out why he deliberately avoided including established game characters such as Leon Kennedy, Claire Redfield, or Jill Valentine in his new film.
In a recent interview with Empire magazine, published via GamesRadar, Cregger said he wanted the movie to stand as a self-contained story even though it is set during the Raccoon City incident.
Cregger told Empire that inserting well-known franchise figures would have felt forced and would have undermined the narrative he wanted to tell.
He emphasized that the film’s story must come first and that trying to shoehorn legacy characters into this particular narrative would have been “inorganic.” The director described the movie’s central figure, Bryan (played by Austin Abrams), as an ordinary person with no combat training — not a typical action-oriented game protagonist but someone who is inept at survival, which shapes the film’s perspective and stakes.
The director also explained that he approached Resident Evil’s rights holders with his concept, and they allowed him creative freedom.
Cregger characterized the project as fundamentally a Zach Cregger movie within the Resident Evil universe, rather than a more literal adaptation of specific game storylines.
Despite this distance from franchise canon, he said the film embraces the games’ tone and pacing.
Cregger compared the movie’s structure to a continuous gauntlet: action begins early and seldom lets up, moving from one distinct set-piece to another in a rhythm that mirrors how the games present unique challenges across locations.
A teaser released in April shows Bryan searching an empty house for supplies before escalating encounters with the infected, capturing the film’s relentless tempo.
The reboot is co-written by Cregger and Shay Hatten and stars Austin Abrams alongside Zach Cherry, Kali Reis, and Paul Walter Hauser.
Resident Evil is scheduled for theatrical release on September 18th.
The Resident Evil franchise, developed by Capcom, has a long history across platforms, with several entries and remasters later appearing on systems including Nintendo Switch and the Nintendo eShop.
While this film takes a different route from game continuity, Cregger’s approach aims to retain the series’ survival-horror sensibilities while delivering a standalone cinematic experience.
In a recent interview with Empire magazine, published via GamesRadar, Cregger said he wanted the movie to stand as a self-contained story even though it is set during the Raccoon City incident.
Cregger told Empire that inserting well-known franchise figures would have felt forced and would have undermined the narrative he wanted to tell.
He emphasized that the film’s story must come first and that trying to shoehorn legacy characters into this particular narrative would have been “inorganic.” The director described the movie’s central figure, Bryan (played by Austin Abrams), as an ordinary person with no combat training — not a typical action-oriented game protagonist but someone who is inept at survival, which shapes the film’s perspective and stakes.
The director also explained that he approached Resident Evil’s rights holders with his concept, and they allowed him creative freedom.
Cregger characterized the project as fundamentally a Zach Cregger movie within the Resident Evil universe, rather than a more literal adaptation of specific game storylines.
Despite this distance from franchise canon, he said the film embraces the games’ tone and pacing.
Cregger compared the movie’s structure to a continuous gauntlet: action begins early and seldom lets up, moving from one distinct set-piece to another in a rhythm that mirrors how the games present unique challenges across locations.
A teaser released in April shows Bryan searching an empty house for supplies before escalating encounters with the infected, capturing the film’s relentless tempo.
The reboot is co-written by Cregger and Shay Hatten and stars Austin Abrams alongside Zach Cherry, Kali Reis, and Paul Walter Hauser.
Resident Evil is scheduled for theatrical release on September 18th.
The Resident Evil franchise, developed by Capcom, has a long history across platforms, with several entries and remasters later appearing on systems including Nintendo Switch and the Nintendo eShop.
While this film takes a different route from game continuity, Cregger’s approach aims to retain the series’ survival-horror sensibilities while delivering a standalone cinematic experience.
