Director Finally Confirms Resident Evil Timeline and Plot Setting
Director Zach Cregger is setting his Resident Evil reboot amid the events of Resident Evil 2, with cameras already rolling in Prague.
Zach Cregger is making a Resident Evil movie, but not the one you think. It lives inside Resident Evil 2 without retelling it, and he is already in Prague getting it made. That combo alone makes this one of the more interesting game-to-movie swings in a minute.
Set during Resident Evil 2, without Leon and Claire
Talking to Fangoria, Cregger laid out the approach: his film runs parallel to the events of Resident Evil 2, but it is its own story with its own characters. If you know the game, you will recognize the rules and the world. If you are hoping for Leon, Claire, or any other canon stars, that is not what he is doing here.
'I am not telling Leon's story. I am not using any of the characters from the games... I am telling my story that exists in the world of Resident Evil 2. You could play 2 and never know that the events of my story are happening right over there, but they are.'
That is some inside-baseball franchise threading: same outbreak, same timeline, different corridor.
- Setting: A side story unfolding during Resident Evil 2, inside that world and timeline
- Characters: No Leon, no Claire, no canon heroes or villains; he is following the established rules without claiming key characters
- Production: Underway in Prague, with Cregger on the ground preparing the Sony-backed reboot
Quick detour: Cregger's last movie, Weapons
Before the zombies, Cregger released Weapons through Warner Bros. It is out now on Digital, with 4K, Blu-ray, and DVD landing October 14. The film centers on a small-town nightmare: nearly an entire class of kids vanishes in one night, and the community is left chasing shadows.
The cast is stacked: Julia Garner, Josh Brolin, Benedict Wong, Alden Ehrenreich, Amy Madigan, and Austin Abrams. Cregger has been pretty vocal about how hard the whole team carried on that one, making it clear it was anything but a solo act.
Yes, there is an Aunt Gladys prequel brewing
Warner Bros. is developing a prequel focused on Aunt Gladys, Amy Madigan's character from Weapons. Cregger says it is real, not studio vapor, and he had the idea in his back pocket before Weapons even hit theaters. He sounds genuinely excited about it, which, given how gnarly that character is, tracks.
Bottom line
Cregger's Resident Evil is a side-quel: same Raccoon City nightmare, fresh perspective. He is sticking to the canon's rules without borrowing its marquee names, and production is happening now in Prague with Sony. Meanwhile, Weapons expands with an Aunt Gladys prequel in the works at Warner Bros. File this under: bold choices that could actually pay off.