Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City Is Unsurprisingly Rated R For 'Violence And Gore'
Good news for fans of zombies and gore, as the upcoming "Resident Evil" movie reboot has officially been rated R. The Motion Picture Association of American has handed down its ruling for Sony's flick, titled "Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City." And we need not worry about things being tame this time around. Expect violence and, oh yes, naughty language.
Per the MPAA, the upcoming reboot of Capcom's beloved video game franchise has earned its R-rating for "strong violence and gore, and language throughout." Nice.
Here is the synopsis for "Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City":
Returning to the origins of the massively popular RESIDENT EVIL franchise, fan and filmmaker Johannes Roberts brings the games to life for a whole new generation of fans. In RESIDENT EVIL: WELCOME TO RACCOON CITY, once the booming home of pharmaceutical giant Umbrella Corporation, Raccoon City is now a dying Midwestern town. The company's exodus left the city a wasteland...with great evil brewing below the surface. When that evil is unleashed, a group of survivors must work together to uncover the truth behind Umbrella and make it through the night.
A Return to Gory Form for Resident Evil?
While Sony had a very successful run with the original "Resident Evil" movies, led by Milla Jovovich, they were never all that faithful to the games. In particular, as fans of the video game franchise will tell you, the games are often quite violent. Rated "M" for mature, as it were. So the fact that director Johannes Roberts has opted to go hard-R this time around is potentially encouraging. We might get something more faithful to the games themselves. Not to mention the fact that the film is set in the '90s, which is when the original games were released.
A Franchise That Just Won't Die
The movie reboot makes every shred of sense. To date, the "Resident Evil" movies have earned more than $1.2 billion at the box office. That makes it the most successful video game movie franchise ever — by quite a lot. But the remarkable thing at the moment is that this is a franchise that is expanding beyond one measly movie.
Netflix recently released the anime "Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness." They also have a live-action TV show coming down the pipeline. Whether or not that will have any connection to the new movie remains to be seen, though it seems doubtful. Be that as it may, in the age of franchise-hungry studios, The T-virus is getting the chance to spread like wildfire.
The movie's stacked cast includes Kaya Scodelario as Claire Redfield, Hannah John-Kamen as Jill Valentine, Robbie Amell as Chris Redfield, Tom Hopper as Albert Wesker, Avan Jogia as Leon S. Kennedy, Donal Logue as Chief Irons, and Neal McDonough as William Birkin.
"Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City" is set to hit theaters on November 24, 2021.