Barbarians director Zach Cregger will mostly be currently busy with the press circuit for his just-released horror flick Weapons, but next up on the docket for the director is a Resident Evil movie. Cregger recently made an appearance on Ringer Movies’ The Big Picture podcast, where he touched a little on what to expect from the film, as well as why he’s opting for a big-name IP for his next project as opposed to another original film.
“It’s gonna be not at all like Barbarian and Weapons,” Cregger explained. “It’s going to be a rock ’em, sock ’em … it’s for me to play. And for me to turn my brain off and just make like a … Evil Dead 2 … get crazy with the camera.” He also shared that Austin Abrams, who plays James in Weapons, is going to be “his guy,” seemingly implying the actor will be featured in some capacity. “It’s a weird, fun, wild story.”
Cregger went on to say that his Resident Evil movie will be like a “real-time journey, where you just go deeper and deeper into the depths of Hell.” He also stressed that it’s a “love letter” to the original games, expressing his love for them. When questioned on the fact that Resident Evil is an IP movie as opposed to his previous works, he said how this was a fair point, but he’s also never seen any of the earlier Resident Evil movies.
“I played the games obsessively. This is a story that comes from a healthy creative place. This is a story that I would’ve wanted to write whether I got the IP or not. I just happen to be able to have these Resident Evil people be down. So I get to play in that sandbox. I’m doing it because I think this movie is going to be f**king awesome.”
In other recent interviews, Cregger also spoke of how his Resident Evil movie will very much be its own thing separate from the games, so you won’t be seeing Leon Kennedy backflipping into frame on this occasion.