Much has been made about George Romero‘s legendary Japanese commercial for Resident Evil 2 (or Biohazard 2, if you want to get technical), but at least that was filmed. George Romero’s Resident Evil film, however, is a different story. We talked about this ultimate “What if?” a few years ago, and now thanks to Jason Bareford (George’s Production Assistant) and director Brandon Salisbury, we’ll finally be getting George A. Romero’s Resident Evil, a long-overdue documentary on the film that could’ve been.

Per Dawn of the Discs on Twitter, images were snapped of the upcoming documentary about Romero’s never-filmed Resident Evil project, which was revealed during the recent Creature Feature Weekend in Gettysburg, PA. In an interview with The Resident Evil Podcast, Salisbury stated that he wanted to pay homage to Romero’s style and the game itself with George A. Romero’s Resident Evil, which is currently scheduled for a 2024 release. As a result, the documentary takes place in a mansion that echoes the look of Resident Evil‘s Spencer Mansion, and is shot to mimic Romero’s style.

For those unaware, after writer Alan B. McElroy’s initial 1998 script for a Resident Evil film was rejected, Romero pitched his own script that same year for what would eventually become the 2002 Resident Evil film by Paul W.S. Anderson. A draft of Romero’s script, dated October 7, 1998, was eventually leaked online. Romero’s script was ambitious and gory (as you might expect from Romero), but also strayed from the 1996 game in certain areas.

Nevertheless, in spite of Romero staying relatively close to the source material, Capcom wasn’t thrilled with the script. Complicating matters was the script’s violent content, which eventually led to it being scrapped by Constantin. Eventually, Anderson’s zombie film The Undead was reworked into the Resident Evil film we know today.

Thanks to Time Extension for the additional info.

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