Cregger Brings His Own Vision of 'Resident Evil' to the Screen
Zach Cregger's 'Resident Evil' adaptation premiered in Los Angeles, with the director saying he made the film he always wanted to see.
The cast and crew of the new "Resident Evil" film walked the red carpet in Los Angeles on Tuesday for the movie's premiere, ahead of its US release on September 18.
Co-writer and director Zach Cregger said he has played every game in the franchise and set out to build a film that matched the experience he remembered. He said he had never seen a "Resident Evil" movie advertised that looked like what he believed such a film should be, and that he approached the project with that as his central concern — asking himself what his favourite version of the franchise would look like.
"If I start trying to please everybody, I'm going to end up pleasing nobody," Cregger said, adding that he hoped audiences would connect with a film made to satisfy his own expectations.
The adaptation draws inspiration from the franchise's second game, "Resident Evil 2", but Cregger's choice to tell an original story without the game's main characters became a subject of discussion among fans online.
Austin Abrams, one of the stars of Cregger's 2025 film "Weapons", leads the cast. Abrams said the partnership works because the two share a similar sensibility, describing a sense of being on the same page about what they were making and a mutual understanding of each other's comedy. He said he had admired Cregger's work since seeing "Barbarian".
Cregger praised Abrams as an exceptional actor whose work he finds consistently compelling, recalling his performance as a thieving junkie in "Weapons" and the affection audiences felt for the character. He said that combination of likability and appeal convinced him Abrams was the right choice.
Paul Walter Hauser, also among the film's cast, said a director taking on established material tends to generate a degree of trust and excitement, comparing it to other filmmakers who have worked with well-known properties. He acknowledged the intensity of the franchise's fan base, joking that they would not hold back if they were unhappy, but said he was not worried because of his confidence in Cregger's intelligence and humour, citing "Barbarian" and "Weapons".
Sony Pictures Entertainment is releasing "Resident Evil" in the United States on September 18.