Zach Cregger Says Resident Evil Will Feel Like the Games
Zach Cregger wants his Resident Evil movie to feel more like playing the games, using limited resources, exploration and game-inspired camera angles to build survival horror.
Zach Cregger says his upcoming Resident Evil movie is designed to recreate the pressure of playing survival horror rather than simply retell one of Capcom’s existing game stories.
In a new Esquire profile, the Barbarian and Weapons filmmaker described his approach as an immersive, real-time experience that keeps moving deeper into danger. It is a promising distinction for a franchise whose screen adaptations have often leaned harder into action than fear.
A Resident Evil Movie Built Around Survival Horror
The new film follows Bryan, played by Austin Abrams, a medical courier caught in a desperate race for survival as one horrifying night collapses into chaos. Sony Pictures describes it as an all-new story, giving Cregger room to use the games’ tension and escalating dread without placing a familiar protagonist at the center.
That makes the adaptation’s central question less about whether it reproduces a specific game and more about whether it can capture the experience of playing one. Cregger’s comments point toward vulnerability, immersion and sustained pressure as the connective tissue between the movie and the franchise.
An Original Story Inside a Familiar Horror World
Cregger directed the film and co-wrote it with Shay Hatten. Alongside Abrams, the cast includes Zach Cherry, Kali Reis and Paul Walter Hauser. TriStar Pictures, Constantin Film and Davis Films are behind the production.
Resident Evil opens exclusively in theaters on September 18, 2026. With the release still a month away, the latest interview gives fans a clearer sense of the creative target: not a scene-for-scene translation, but a horror movie intended to feel like survival.
What We Think
Cregger’s comments create a lot of curiosity for me because he seems to be leaning into the survival horror of the games rather than adapting specific plotlines. He mentions searching for supplies, limited ammo, dealing with locks, and camera angles that mimic the games. For someone who has played a lot of Resident Evil, that sounds incredibly intriguing, but how well will it actually work in a cinematic format? Those camera angles could create plenty of tension, but will searching for supplies and dealing with the environment bog down the pacing and pull you out of the movie?
What concerns me more is that we weren’t fans of Cregger’s previous two films, Barbarian and Weapons. I’ll concede that he has talent and his movies are well made, but for me, once the “big bad” is revealed, I’ve come away disappointed. I’m hoping that being set in the world of Resident Evil gives him enough established material to bring it home in the third act, but I’m not totally convinced. I really want this movie to work because I’d love to see more Resident Evil movies, but I won’t be holding my breath.
Sources: Esquire, Sony Pictures
