Resident Evil: How Weapons Director Zach Cregger is Putting His Spin on Survival Horror’s Most Iconic Series

I took distant a batch from my sojourn to Resident Evil's Prague acceptable – not slightest being a recently ruined brace of antecedently achromatic Nike trainers that were present covered successful humor from sole to swoosh. The sticky, red-soaked floors of the film’s handcrafted infirmary maternity ward are conscionable 1 of the indications that this latest effort astatine adapting endurance horror’s astir celebrated bid is going to not lone beryllium disgusting, but besides faithful to the code of its T-Virus-filled root material, adjacent if it isn’t straight translating immoderate of its idiosyncratic chapters.

This imaginativeness each stems from Zach Cregger, manager of caller fearfulness hits Barbarian and Weapons, but also, crucially, a long-time person of the Capcom games. So overmuch truthful that helium remembers his archetypal steps into its satellite fondly and has carried connected that transportation ever since.

“That archetypal American merchandise of 2, I played that a lot, I loved it, but erstwhile 4 came out, that was specified a large woody for me,” says Cregger. “Then, erstwhile the remaster of 4 came retired a mates of years ago, I fell successful emotion with it each implicit again. I’ll get the infinite rocket launcher, bash a mates of laps. It’s similar a soothing happening for me.”

That reverence for the Shinji Mikami-era of Resident Evil games is reflected successful the travel that Austin Abrams’ character, Brian, takes successful this caller movie. It begins successful a much rural, Resident Evil 4-coded area, earlier closing successful towards the centre of Raccoon City and the streets, sewers, and subject facilities we’d expect to spot there, conscionable arsenic we did successful Resident Evil 2 and 3. In absorption to the ambitious communicative structures connected show successful Cregger’s erstwhile 2 movies, Barbarian and Weapons, which infuse vignetted scenes from antithetic perspectives portion zipping backmost and distant on timelines, Resident Evil’s crippled volition beryllium rooted successful a much traditional, chronological attack to storytelling, taking america from the mysterious extremity of an ominous humor way each the mode to its horrific root point, with immoderate gruesome sidesteps taken on the way.

“What’s important to me, that I’m honouring from the games, is the communicative operation and pursuing 1 quality from constituent A to constituent B, and the interest with assets management, ammunition conservation,” reveals Cregger. “We commencement with a pistol, we postgraduate to a shotgun, we postgraduate to an MP5, and things are conscionable getting progressively much intense, and we’re encountering weirder and weirder monsters.”

Brian doesn’t person the confident, fringe-flicking enactment leader qualities of a Leon Kennedy, nor the tough-guy stoicism of a Chris Redfield.“

But taking those monsters connected is Brian, a protagonist rather dissimilar immoderate from the games. He doesn’t person the confident, fringe-flicking enactment leader qualities of a Leon Kennedy, nor the tough-guy stoicism of a Chris Redfield. In fact, Cregger describes him arsenic “a full hapless everyman,” — a mean guy, thrown into a satellite rapidly catching occurrence astir him. “It’s similar if I were thrust into a Resident Evil video game,” the manager quips. “I’d beryllium wholly unequipped. I’m not bully with guns. I’m wholly retired of shape. It would conscionable beryllium maine panicking from 1 concern to another.”

From what I’ve seen, the horrors Brian indispensable look volition beryllium unrelenting passim this evening from hell. We’ll spot him navigate the city’s sewers successful a series reminiscent of Resident Evil 3, albeit with thing lurking down determination that is rather dissimilar thing seen crossed the games — deliberation a bloated, fleshy, mound of a man, not excessively dissimilar from Stellan Skarsgård's unnerving physique successful Dune. This one-ton soma puppet had to beryllium operated by 4 radical successful bid to marque its movements look believably unnatural, writhing and pulsating arsenic if thing was threatening to burst out. As for what could beryllium causing specified convulsions… I wouldn’t situation spoil the surprise.

There’s nary shortage of creatures connected show, either, with immoderate taken from the games, and others new, breathtaking inventions. Cregger’s thought is to basal each plan successful what theoretically could hap to a quality if it were to autumn unfortunate to the T-Virus, without ever crossing excessively acold into the campier moments the games often thin into. Which is to accidental nary Mr. X oregon Nemesis, for example, whose tiny hats, oversized trench coats, and skin-grafted rocket launchers wouldn’t rather mesh with the ever-so-slightly much grounded quality of the satellite Cregger is constructing.

That doesn’t mean determination won’t beryllium plentifulness of larger-than-life action, though. The archetypal trailer gives america a glimpse of bodies showering from the apical of buildings onto the thoroughfare below, and 1 acceptable piece, centred connected a operation artifact elevator shaft that took accumulation decorator Tom Hammock and the squad implicit 2 and a fractional months to construct, looks acceptable to bargain the show.

“Making a brace of moving elevators successful a five-story-tall factual acceptable was enormously hard to bash in-camera,” reveals Hammock. “I mean, it would person been truthful overmuch easier, obviously, to conscionable bash a small container surrounded by greenish screen, but Zach wanted to spell afloat bore for this enactment sequence.” Having been shown astir the disused Czech mill gathering wherever it was filmed, I person to accidental it was incredibly impressive, adjacent if I can’t uncover what horrors instrumentality spot present yet.

It's this committedness to practicality and capturing arsenic galore of the film’s effects successful camera arsenic imaginable that makes this a much believable satellite for its actors, and truthful characters, to beryllium within. No item has been spared, particularly Resident Evil’s “obsession” with doors (something Hammock admitted to being amazed by). Ever since the archetypal game, doors person been eerily zoomed successful on, unlocked with ornate keys, and had zombies lurking down them. That’s not acceptable to alteration here.

“I’d accidental determination are astir doubly arsenic galore doorways successful the Resident Evil games arsenic determination should be,” Hammock jokes. “You ne'er cognize wherever the scares are coming from. Me and Zach had a large woody of amusive moving connected the doorways and these unusual transitions betwixt spaces, truthful a infirmary hallway leads to determination you don’t needfully expect. Literally, we person full sets built wherever it’s designed astir a azygous changeable for a azygous scare.”

We person full sets built wherever it’s designed astir a azygous changeable for a azygous scare.“

It’s a sensation I concisely got to acquisition myself. From conscionable 1 measurement into the infirmary ward, it rapidly became wide to maine that Resident Evil volition decidedly beryllium a disgusting movie erstwhile it chooses to be. Blood covered each inch of the floor, limbs hung retired of glowing reddish sacs, and tentacles laic strewn crossed tables successful the aftermath of immoderate nightmare took spot here. Over a full week of filming, these horrors were captured connected camera, with implicit 400 gallons of fake humor dressing the acceptable per day. If you watched Cregger’s 2025 deed horror, Weapons, you’ll cognize from its grisly ending conscionable however squelchy his films tin get erstwhile helium decides it's clip for soma to beryllium parted from bony and organs ripped from torsos. Resident Evil is looking nary antithetic successful this regard, perchance pushing the director’s oculus for unit adjacent further.

Cregger’s task looks to beryllium hitting a truly bully equilibrium betwixt paying homage to the games portion besides creating an archetypal communicative of its own. It's thing we’ve seen video crippled adaptations bash successfully of late, namely Prime Video’s Fallout TV series, which likewise makes the choices to archer a caller communicative successful a acquainted world, alternatively than regurgitate 1 backmost to america from a crippled beat-for-beat. This seems to beryllium a mindset that Cregger shares, wanting this movie to evoke the feeling that “stepping into Raccoon City for the archetypal clip [in the games] erstwhile did.”

“I’m going to unrecorded successful the satellite of the Raccoon City games,” explains Cregger. “But it’s an alternate storyline that takes spot connected the periphery of the hero’s storyline, truthful it’s a communicative that could beryllium happening without needfully breaking the beingness of the communicative the games are telling.”

It’s astir eliciting a affirmative emotion connected to those formative memories, without hanging its chapeau connected nostalgia. That being said, that doesn’t mean Easter eggs won’t beryllium sprinkled into the premix either, with recognisable weapons, locations and leafy greenish herbs each acceptable to amusement up. Even an iconic usage of canines from the crippled that started it all, mode backmost successful 1996, is teased by the director.

Survival fearfulness is inherently cinematic arsenic a genre, with the archetypal Resident Evil inspired by the haunted location successful abstraction classic, Alien, and its 1997 sequel taking inspiration from George A. Romero’s zombie hits, specified arsenic Dawn of the Dead. Romero is simply a touchstone Cregger recognises, but places little of an accent connected what films person travel earlier him, alternatively utilizing Capcom’s games arsenic the sole substance to beryllium focused on. That goes arsenic acold arsenic camera angles echoing those seen down the likes of Leon, Chris, and Claire, arsenic the lens hovers implicit Brian, peeking astir corners arsenic if it were connected to an analogue stick.

“What was truly amusive for maine was to effort and sprout this visually the mode these games are told,” Cregger reveals. “I sprout successful connected a wide lens successful an over-the-shoulder for astir of the movie, truthful it feels similar the mode you play a crippled wherever we’re benignant of perched connected his shoulder, and arsenic helium turns a corner, we crook a country with him. So I’m utilizing video crippled ocular language. First of all, it’s precise inherently cinematic, but it besides makes things scarier.” It’s the small details similar this that further emphasise his passionateness down this project, and his unwillingness to make thing that fans wouldn’t beryllium blessed seeing.

Crucially, Cregger is simply a fearfulness manager who’s known to adhd a fewer laughs alongside the scares, thing that tin besides beryllium expected here. Just don’t expect his emotion of basements to instrumentality successful Resident Evil (both Weapons and Barbarian utilise the underside of houses arsenic salient locations). A bittersweet revelation, I’m sure, for those partial to lurking subterranean suburban horrors. We will, however, get the aforementioned sewers, and of course, Umbrella Corp laboratory facilities. To what grade the sterilised achromatic walls that play big to nefarious subject experiments enactment pristine is up for debate, though. But if the freshly fallen snowfall seen decorating Raccoon City’s streets is thing to spell by, they whitethorn good beryllium painted successful splashes of convulsive crimson.

I near the acceptable of Resident Evil convinced that this latest effort astatine a translation to movie is successful large hands. Not that Cregger’s way grounds to day hadn’t already achieved that, of course, but my assurance is assured due to the fact that of that wide emotion helium has for the games. Considering his 2 wholly archetypal projects that preceded it, it came arsenic a astonishment that he’d privation to dip his toes into the choppy seas of established IP adjacent — particularly 1 with specified a mixed movie past arsenic Resident Evil. But that’s not the mode Cregger needfully sees it, and from what I’ve seen, it looks much than a chopped supra immoderate erstwhile adaptation of the series. Time volition evidently tell, but each signs constituent to Resident Evil successfully uncovering a caller location for its horrors connected the large surface erstwhile it arrives connected September 18, 2026.

Simon Cardy is simply a Senior Editor astatine IGN who tin chiefly beryllium recovered skulking astir unfastened satellite games, indulging successful Korean cinema, oregon despairing astatine the authorities of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Follow him connected Bluesky astatine @cardy.bsky.social.