Zach Cregger has been pretty clear in recent months that his upcoming Resident Evil movie isn’t a direct adaptation of any of the video games, but rather his own original story that aims to recapture the experience of playing a Resident Evil video game. That said, Cregger has revealed that in his mind, his movie is taking place during the events of Resident Evil 2.
The Resident Evil 2 video game, to be clear.
Zach Cregger explains to IGN in a trailer breakdown video today, “My rule for this movie was to try and make a movie that felt like my experience of playing the games, and that could live in the world of Resident Evil. I feel like this movie takes place alongside the events of Resident Evil 2. I like to think that everything that’s going on in the police station could be happening in this world. This is just another dude on another mission on the other side of town.”
“So yeah,” Cregger continues, “it’s not canon in that I’m using the characters, but it’s canon in that it lives in the actual day of reckoning in Raccoon City.”
“This is the first night that the T-Virus has broken out,” Cregger adds.
The dude on a mission in the film is Bryan, played by Austin Abrams (Weapons).
Zach Cregger goes on to detail in his Resident Evil trailer breakdown, “This movie follows a character who’s outside of Raccoon City, and he’s gotta get into the center of it. And we’re with him as he goes through this gauntlet of set-pieces and gets deeper and deeper into town.”
Based on the iconic video game franchise, Resident Evil opens in theaters and IMAX on September 18 via Sony. The film is being billed as “a thrilling — and terrifying — reinvention of the Resident Evil franchise” from the mind of visionary filmmaker Zach Cregger.
Watch the teaser trailer for Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil below.
