'Resident Evil' Reboot Movie Will Arrive In September
The Resident Evil reboot movie is now set for a September 2021 release date. This latest big-screen film based on the popular video game series sounds like it's going to be much more faithful to its source material than the film franchise that started with 2002's Resident Evil, directed by Paul W.S. Anderson. This new version comes from director Johannes Roberts (47 Meters Down) and stars Crawl actress Kaya Scodelario.
Sony is attempting to revive the Resident Evil film franchise with this new reboot – and they've officially dated the film for September 3, 2021. It's not entirely clear if the studio is aiming for a theatrical-only release, or if this is going to perhaps hit VOD. It seems likely that Sony is hoping to drop this exclusively in theaters, though. Sony Pictures' Screen Gems division will be distributed domestically and Constantin Film will distribute in German-speaking territories. Elevation will release in Canada and Metropolitan will distribute in France. Sony Pictures Releasing International is handling much of the remaining territories.
The film's synopsis states that "The story takes place on a fateful night in Raccoon City in 1998," and that the movie will be "the official origin story of the Resident Evil world." The first Resident Evil game, while released in 1996, was set in 1998 and took place entirely within a mansion hiding a dangerous science experiment. The first two sequels took place shortly afterward, set during the same time period and following characters navigating the zombie apocalypse. With that in mind, it sounds like this movie is going to be much more faithful to the source material than the Paul W.S. Anderson movie, which was a very loose adaptation.
The Resident Evil reboot cast includes Kaya Scodelario as Claire Redfield, Robbie Amell as Chris Redfield, Hannah John-Kamen as Jill Valentine, Tom Hopper as Albert Wesker, Avan Jogia as Leon S. Kennedy, Donal Logue as Chief Brian Irons, and Neal McDonough as William Birkin. These are all characters directly from the games, so again: if you were disappointed Anderson's Resident Evil strayed from its inspiration, you might be in luck with this latest incarnation.
Resident Evil is produced by Robert Kulzer, James Harris, and Hartley Gorenstein, and executive produced by Martin Moszkowicz and Victor Hadida. The movie was written and directed by Johannes Roberts, who directed the shark flick 47 Meters Down and its sequel 47 Meters Down: Uncaged. I was not a big fan of either of those films, but I did enjoy Roberts' The Strangers: Prey at Night, so I remain curious to see how his take on Resident Evil turns out.