Another day, another reboot. An all-new take on the Resident Evil movie franchise is on the way, with Deadline bringing word that writer-director Johannes Roberts (‘47 Meters Down,’ ‘The Strangers: Prey At Night,’ ‘Storage 24’) is set to take the helm for an origin story, set in 1998 on a fateful night in Raccoon City.
Stepping into the roles of Capcom‘s iconic videogame characters will be Kaya Scodelario (‘Crawl,’ ‘Maze Runner‘’) as Claire Redfield alongside Hannah John-Kamen (‘The Stranger,’ ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’) as Jill Valentine.
Also on board are Robbie Amell (‘Upload,’ ‘The Babysitter: Killer Queen) as Chris Redfield, Tom Hopper (‘The Umbrella Academy,’ ‘The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard’) as Albert Wesker, Avan Jogia (‘Zombieland: Double Tap,’ ‘The Stranger’) as Leon S. Kennedy, and Neal McDonough (‘Yellowstone,’ ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’) as William Birkin.
“With this movie, I really wanted to go back to the original first two games and re-create the terrifying visceral experience I had when I first played them whilst at the same time telling a grounded human story about a small dying American town that feels both relatable and relevant to today’s audiences, said Roberts in a statement.
Franchise producer Robert Kulzer added, “After a dozen games, six live-action movies and hundreds of pages of fan fiction, we felt compelled to return to the year 1998, to explore the secrets hidden in the walls of the Spenser Mansion and Raccoon City.”
Tea Shop Productions, who were behind Roberts’ 2017 survival horror ’47 Meters Down,’ are on board to produce alongside Kulzer on behalf of Constantin and Hartley Gorenstein.
The big screen reboot of the ‘Resident Evil’ franchise follows on the heels of news that a scripted live action series inspired by the videogame franchise is coming to Netflix, along with an episodic CG series featuring Claire Redfield and Leon S. Kennedy titled ‘Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness.’