You might think that rising to Hollywood stardom with award-winning genre films would allow you complete control over any future project, but the truth is that blockbuster filmmaking, especially where established intellectual properties are concerned, will always be driven by corporate interests. That’s why it’s a small miracle whenever a genuine fan of the source material gets to helm an official adaptation while still being able to add their own unique flair to the project, like Resident Evil.
The recently released movie is one such miracle, with Zach Cregger going out of his way to adapt the experience of playing through a survival horror video game rather than any existing story from the series. While this approach rubbed some hardcore fans the wrong way, you really can’t argue with the results. In fact, cinephiles have even been using the new flick’s success as an excuse to poke fun at the adaptational absurdity of Paul W.S. Anderson’s previous attempts at bringing the RE series to life on the big screen.
The funny thing is that Cregger’s take on Resident Evil actually has a very similar origin story to Anderson’s adaptation from 2002.
The finished film may have been co-written by Cregger and Shay Hatten, but multiple interviews have revealed that Cregger was so passionate about translating his love of survival horror gaming to film that he wrote the initial draft of the script that would become 2026’s Resident Evil to be distinct enough from the source material that he could still produce it as a standalone movie even if Capcom didn’t approve his pitch.
As some readers may recall from my previous retrospective looking back on the 2002 Resident Evil flick, this is almost the exact same situation behind that film. Despite also being a huge fan of the games, Paul W.S. Anderson didn’t actually think he would be able to secure the rights to Resident Evil, so he decided to channel his passion for survival horror into an original horror script titled Undead (which he described as an obvious “rip-off” of the first Resident Evil). When Constantin Film actually ended up hiring Anderson to helm an official RE movie, his original zombie screenplay went through minor alterations and became the film that (some of us) know and love.
The two directors don’t exactly see eye-to-eye when it comes to what they love the most about Capcom’s long-running franchise, but it’s fun to see how such wildly different projects were born from the exact same creative desire to tell a story inspired by Resident Evil, whether the higher-ups approved it or not.
In any case, be sure to celebrate Resident Evil’s 30th anniversary by watching Zach Cregger’s film in theaters if you still haven’t, as this is one horror experience you don’t want to have spoiled for you by the internet! You can also catch up with Anderson’s films, along with other adaptations, on streaming now.
