‘Weapons’ star will lead Zach Cregger’s “weird, fun, wild” ‘Resident Evil’ adaptation

Weapons’ star Austin Abrams will lead Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil adaptation, the director has confirmed.

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After a pair of groundbreaking horror films (Weapons, Barbarian) Zach Cregger’s next project is a Resident Evil movie. Announced earlier this year, it was claimed the ‘faithful” reboot will return the franchise to its horror roots.

Now the writer and director has confirmed Austin Abrams (Euphoria, The Walking Dead, This Is Us) will have a starring role in the film as an original character.

“It’s gonna be not at all like Barbarian and Weapons. It’s going to be a rock ’em, sock ’em [movie]. It’s for me to play and turn my brain off and just get crazy with the camera,” he said in an interview with Ringer Movies before comparing it to Sam Rami’s iconic 1987 horror comedy Evil Dead 2. “Austin Abrams is gonna be my guy. Austin is the movie. We have an amazing thing together. It’s a weird, fun, wild story.”

“It’s not reinventing itself. This movie follows a person from point A to point B. It’s weird in that way, because it’s a real-time foot journey where you just go deeper and deeper into the depths of Hell. And it’s really a love letter to the games, because I love those games. This is my homage to them.”

He went on to admit that he’s never seen any of the six Resident Evil movies but 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 have these Resident Evil people be down [with what I’m doing] so I get to play in that sandbox. I’m honoured to be able to do that and stoked that I get to tell a story that I love. I don’t need to do this,” he continued. “I’m in a healthy enough place where I could go make a different, original movie but I’m doing it because I think this movie is going to be fucking awesome.”

Earlier this month, Cregger confirmed that his Resident Evil film will take place “outside of the characters of the games.”

“I’m not going to tell Leon’s story, because Leon’s story is told in the games. Fans already have that,” he explained. Cregger previously warned hardcore gamers that they might hate his movie because it’s not a direct adaptation.

In other news, Pokémon has shared the official soundtrack for the 2025 World championships, featuring a song by viral sea shanty group The Longest Johns.

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