The director of the upcoming Resident Evil movie reboot was given the freedom to make whatever he wanted, the film studio’s CEO says.
Last year it was confirmed that Zach Cregger, the writer-director behind the critically acclaimed horror movie Barbarian and the recently released Weapons, would be writing and directing a new Resident Evil movie which will reboot the film series.
Now, in an interview with Deadline, Constantin Film CEO Oliver Berbin says Cregger was given “the carte blanche to do whatever he wanted to do with that IP”.
“With Resident Evil, we have had an incredible journey with one of the most successful international IPs of more than a billion dollars in box office for many years,” he explained, “and now we are creating something new – not just a new story idea, but to allow a new generation to take the IP into their own hands and form something different.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Berbin says the next Resident Evil movie, which is planned for a cinema release on September 18, is “far away from everything that is connected to Resident Evil, only because Zach Cregger has his own style”.
He added: “We consider filmmakers as an IP. Besides existing videogame, book or comic IPs, the biggest creative power you can have is a triple-A filmmaker and a package that combines those filmmakers with great cast and great ideas – that’s what we are aiming for.”
Cregger’s previous horror films Barbarian and Weapons currently have Rotten Tomatoes scores of 92% and 93% respectively, meaning Resident Evil and horror fans alike are excited about the prospect of seeing Cregger’s take on Capcom‘s series.
Last year Cregger explained to Inverse that his film won’t retell the stories from the games but will instead feature new characters and tell a new story in the same universe, adding that in his eyes the stories of the games have already been told well enough.
“Let me say this – this is not breaking the rules of the games,” Cregger said in last year’s intereview, insisting that the new movie will still respect Resident Evil lore. “I am the biggest worshipper of the games, so I’m telling a story that is a love letter to the games and follows the rules of the games.
“It is obedient to the lore of the games, it’s just a different story. I’m not going to tell Leon’s story, because Leon’s story is told in the games. [Fans] already have that.”
Cregger says that if any players were hoping to see characters like Leon, Jill, Chris or Claire appearing in his movie, “they can play the game” to see their stories.
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