Zach Cregger’s “Resident Evil” has reached $400 million at the global box office, but the director says the argument around it too often left out the film itself. Cregger made the comments on Matthew Belloni’s “The Town” podcast in an episode released Oct. 30, after he was asked whether he would adapt another existing property.
“I think I was frustrated at the conversation around ‘Resident Evil’ and how much of the conversation really didn’t have anything to do with the movie,” Cregger said, according to IGN. His film skips a straight adaptation of Capcom’s long-running game franchise, using original characters and aiming for the feeling of playing the games instead.
What Cregger said about the ‘Resident Evil’ conversation
Cregger explained that the debate centered on fan expectations rather than what was on the screen. “It had everything to do with whether the movie was living up to the different standards that different fans of the games had. Whether it was using the characters or not, or what did I get wrong in the lore?” he said.
The noise did not change how he feels about the finished product. “I’m proud of the movie. I really love the movie,” he told Belloni. He also admitted he did not see the reaction coming.
“I realize I should have known better going into it. I should have understood that was going to be the case, but for some reason, I was a little shocked,” Cregger said.
How the film approaches the franchise
Cregger’s film follows Bryan, a medical courier played by Austin Abrams, whose delivery to a hospital in Raccoon City puts him in the middle of a zombie outbreak. Game characters such as Leon Kennedy are nowhere to be found, and that choice drove much of the fan debate Cregger described.
Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima, who did not work on the “Resident Evil” games, gave the approach a high-profile endorsement. “Right from the opening, it hits you with music reminiscent of ‘The Thing.’ From there, it’s a relentless barrage of classic horror techniques, terrifying situations, and jump scares that never lets up until the very end,” Kojima wrote on X on Oct. 12.
He added, “This isn’t a film adaptation of ‘Resident Evil.’ It’s a film about the experience of playing ‘Resident Evil,’ controller in hand.” The movie, Kojima said, “reminded me of how I felt when I first played the original ‘Resident Evil’ on PlayStation back in 1996,” PC Gamer reported.
Box office numbers and franchise standing
Audiences showed up regardless of the online argument. “Resident Evil” opened in U.S. theaters Sept. 18 on a reported $75 million budget and debuted to $60 million in the U.S. and Canada and $108.3 million worldwide. The domestic start beat the $35 million to $50 million that Deadline’s prerelease tracking had projected, as reported by Polygon.
Variety reported the film had reached an estimated $400 million worldwide as of Nov. 1, including $157.4 million in North America and $242.6 million overseas. China led international markets with $71.4 million.
That makes it the highest-grossing film in the series, ahead of 2016’s “Resident Evil: The Final Chapter” at $312 million. The 2021 reboot “Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City” took in $41.9 million worldwide, according to Polygon.
What comes next for Cregger and the franchise
Cregger told Polygon around the film’s release that a sequel was not part of the plan while he was making it. “That was not what I was thinking when I was making the movie. I was thinking one and done. Now that it’s completed, I can’t help myself. This is just the way my brain works. I’ve already got other ideas of what could happen,” he said.
On “The Town,” he went further. Asked whether he would be fine with five “Resident Evil” movies that he only produced, Cregger said he would want “some hand in them,” IGN reported.
His feelings about other franchises have softened slightly, too. Before the film opened, he told Deadline of franchise work, “I’m doing this, and that’s it for me.” Asked on the podcast about adapting another property, he said, “I mean, never say never.”
No sequel has been announced. Cregger’s next film is “The Flood,” an original sci-fi thriller starring Jennifer Lawrence that is scheduled for Aug. 11, 2028.
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