The first teaser for the new Resident Evil film adaptation has arrived, showcasing director Zach Cregger’s fresh take on the iconic horror franchise.
Released by Sony Pictures, the teaser introduces audiences to Bryan, a medical courier played by Austin Abrams, who finds himself trapped in the middle of a grotesque outbreak while making a routine delivery, per Rolling Stone.
“Hey babe, look, um, I’m really sorry we got disconnected earlier,” he says nervously over the phone while leaving a message. “But some things have happened. I’m in like a seriously fucked up situation right now and it looks like there’s a chance that we might not get to talk to each other again.”
As Bryan speaks, the clip teases some of the mayhem to come: Breathless sprints, frantic searches for supplies, and some absolutely terrifying creatures wreaking havoc in Raccoon City. “I just wanted you to know, I love you,” he says, these last words paired with footage of what look like bodies falling out of the sky and exploding on a snowy street.
Check it out below.
Rather than directly adapting one of the games, Cregger has opted for an original story set within the Resident Evil universe. In an interview with the Playstation blog, the filmmaker explained he wanted to capture the feeling of playing the early games rather than retelling existing storylines.
“…[The characters] encounter all of the same sorts of things you would encounter in the games. I wanted to keep true to like [in the games], you start with a pistol, you graduate to a shotgun, and then eventually you find an MP5. You’re always worried about how many bullets you have, and you’re getting injured and all those things. So it was such a fun challenge for me to try and write a game as a movie.”
Alongside Austin Abrams, the film also stars Paul Walter Hauser, Zach Cherry, and Kali Reis.
Best known for breakout horror hit Barbarian and last year’s Weapons, Cregger has repeatedly stressed that his version of Resident Evil will prioritise dread and survival over large-scale action spectacle.
The Resident Evil franchise has seen multiple live-action iterations over the years, most notably the long-running series led by Milla Jovovich, as well as the 2021 reboot Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City.
Resident Evil is scheduled to land in cinemas on September 18th.
