One of the biggest and most financially successful horror franchises is getting a new movie! Resident Evil will return to the big screen in the near future with Barbarian writer and director Zach Cregger at the helm.
Capcom's popular video game series remains one of the most well-known in the horror genre. Since the late 1990s, the biopunk games have dominated the charts and spanned over a dozen games, novels, comic books, movies, TV shows, and other merchandise. The original live-action film series starring Milla Jovovich ran for seven films, coming to an end in 2017. The last Resident Evil movie to make it to cinemas was the 2021 reboot Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City. Netflix then tackled the franchise with its own live-action series that was canceled after just one season.
The Hollywood Reporter exclusively shares that Cregger's take on the post-apocalyptic series has already ignited one of 2025's biggest bidding wars, with four companies currently interested, including studios like Warner Bros. and Netflix. It would be a significant win for whoever comes out on top, as Resident Evil is one of the highest-grossing horror franchises of all time, grossing more than $1.2 billion in its lifetime and coming in just below The Conjuring Universe and the Alien franchise. Needless to say, whoever wins the auction is likely to end up paying a lofty fee.
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Every live-action adaptation of the Resident Evil games has been met with intense scrutiny by diehard fans because none of them have been all that faithful to the games. That said, I think most agree that the Paul W.S. Anderson-directed 2002 film is probably the best of the bunch, though I happen to have enjoyed the games and all of the movies.
Even though Alice was an original character unique to the films, the movies did later introduce popular characters like Claire Redfield, Jill Valentine, and Albert Wesker. The movies also featured the primary elements of the games, like the Raccoon City setting, the Umbrella Corporation, and antagonists like Nemesis.
Still, fans want to see a movie that is more akin to the storylines and characters present in the games and it seems like that might finally happen with Cregger in charge. THR says sources indicate the director/writer wants to take the title back "to its horror roots and be more faithful to the initial games."
His film, Barbarian, was extremely successful at the box office and has made Cregger a name studios are willing to bet big on. His other movie, Weapons, also ignited a bidding war.