The popular video game Resident Evil is getting a new cinematic remake, and there are already a ton of exciting details about the movie. The original survival horror game debuted in 1996 (developed by Shinji Mikami and Tokuro Fujiwara) and became a worldwide sensation on fifth generation consoles like the original PlayStation. Starting as a simple zombie story involving the shady Umbrella Corporation and their dastardly experiments, the gaming franchise quickly branched out into one of the richest and most complicated universes in video game history. It also didn't take long for Hollywood to come calling.

The Resident Evil film franchise began in 2002 with the release of the eponymous film by director Paul W.S. Anderson. An immediate box-office sensation, the poorly-reviewed action hit would spawn five financially successful sequels over the next decade and a half. However, as 2016's The Final Chapter indicated, it was time for the original Resident Evil film series to wind down. 2021's Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City jump-started a new movie series with recognizable characters from the games and a closer association with the original lore. All this has now paved the way for the 2026 movie.

The Resident Evil Remake Latest News

The First Cast Member Is In Talks To The Reboot

Resident Evil is currently deep within pre-production, and a September 2025 shooting start time has been teased.

With news slowly starting to arrive regarding the new video game movie, the latest update confirms that the Resident Evil reboot is courting its first actor. Keeping things within the zombie horror genre, The Walking Dead alum Austin Abrams (known for playing Ron Anderson on the series) is being circled to appear in Resident Evil. No details have been revealed concerning which part Abrams is being considered for, and he hasn't officially signed on to the project yet.

In other news, Resident Evil is currently deep within pre-production, and a September 2025 shooting start time has been teased. With the movie already on the release schedule, details are expected to begin arriving quickly as the movie rushes to take shape.

Abrams appeared in two seasons of The Walking Dead between 2015 and 2016.

The Resident Evil Remake Release Date

The Remake Is Planned For 2026

Despite the fact that almost nothing is known about the movie, Sony has set a release date for the Resident Evil remake. Coming nearly two years after the film was first announced (in January 2025), Sony plans to release the remake on September 18, 2026. The release date also indicates that Sony has won the bidding war, though Warner Bros. was reportedly also interested in taking on the legendary Capcom gaming franchise. Sony released all the previous Resident Evil movies, so the continuity might help the new remake flourish. A theatrical release is expected, but details are scant.

Despite the lengthy span of time until the video game movie actually arrives, it's highly likely that work will begin in earnest very soon. Though no production timeline is known, casting and shooting should begin before the end of 2025. Add in the distinct possibility of a long post-production process, and it may wrap principal photography sooner than expected. It's also unclear if the release date will change at any point in the future, and it's entirely contingent upon how well production proceeds, and the presence of other big releases in September 2026.

The live-action Resident Evil film franchise includes:

Who Is Making The Resident Evil Remake?

The Twisted Mind Behind Barbarian (2022) Is Remaking Resident Evil

The seven films in the Resident Evil series so far have been overseen by four different directors, but the remake is adding a fifth filmmaker to the roster. Fresh off his groundbreaking debut solo directing effort, Barbarian, Zach Cregger has been tapped to direct the remake. Not only will Cregger be helming the project, but he has been brought on to write and produce as well. This level of creative control is something new for the cinematic franchise, and Resident Evil has always been a film series made by committee.

With Barbarian, Cregger showed he could deliver an effective creature feature that also excelled from a cinematic standpoint. Cregger's hiring seems to indicate that the remake will be leaning heavily into the horror aspects of Resident Evil, a stark departure from the action-oriented movies by Paul W.S. Anderson and company. However, with a recognizable property like Resident Evil, it remains to be seen how much creative control Cregger will actually be given by Sony and Capcom.

The Resident Evil Remake Story Details

Nearly 30 Years Of Games To Choose From

As it stands now, nothing is known about the plot of the remake of Resident Evil. However, there are nearly 30 years of games to pull from, and it's highly unlikely that the new film will ignore the continuity and storylines from the classic installments. Welcome to Raccoon City drew on elements from the first two games, and blended storylines and characters into one narrative. The new remake could instead strictly adapt the first game, or could move forward in the timeline to avoid covering the same ground.

Director Zach Cregger has promised that his Resident Evil film will be "unlike any of the previous" installments (via IGN), though he is quite tight-lipped regarding specifics. He did, however, promise that it will capture the horrific spirit of the gaming experience, saying:

There’s a moment that comes in almost every Resident Evil game where you find yourself in a dark ageway, your health is almost zero and there’s no way around. You have to go through but you know there’s something awful for you in the darkness. That is a thrill that the Resident Evil games have perfected. My movie will be built in the spirit of those games and follows one central protagonist from point A to point B, as they descend deeper into hell.

One interesting possibility is adapting Resident Evil 4, a game that is widely recognized as one of the greatest of all time, and a major turning point for the franchise as a whole. The story follows Resident Evil 2's Leon S. Kennedy as he travels to Spain to rescue the President's daughter from a religious cult. This is where the games moved away from the traditional zombie-focused storylines and added more elements of the supernatural to expand the lore. Resident Evil could literally adapt that game, or pull upon its eerie spirit to tell a new story altogether.