A new Resident Evil reboot is in development, and this time, it might be based on one of the most popular video game entries in the whole franchise. Just a couple of years ago, Sony released a Resident Evil film that was supposed to restart the IP. It was basically, ditching the Paul W. S. Anderson version of the game-to-movie franchise.
Anderson did admit that his franchise starring Milla Jovovich has finished with Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, which was the sixth film in his series of films. Regardless of what people may think of Anderson’s take on the video game franchise, it was very successful financially. The film series has earned $1.2 billion at the box office. Who can argue with that?
The reboot which was directed by Johannes Roberts titled Resident Evil: Welcome to Racoon City was released in November 2021. It told the story of Resident Evil 1 and 2. Critics had a lot of negative reviews, with its Tomatometer displayed at 30%, giving it a rotten tomato ranking. The general audience had mixed reviews which had a more positive outcome with a 65% audience score.
Netflix even tried to make their own live-action TV series based on the game. But it was too different from what video game fans were used to; it just failed to gain an audience. And it was cancelled not long after the release of its first season.
Some fans liked that Roberts’ movie was closer to the game than Paul W.S. Anderson’s films. But at the same time, the storytelling seems like a mess that forced two stories into one film. Possibly, it was the reason why the film struggled at the box office. Because of it, the latest reboot has failed. However, it seems that Sony is not deterred and will keep the franchise going. But this time, they will be focusing on RE’s most popular game of all time.
Resident Evil Movie Reboot Is Based on Resident Evil 4
READ MORE: Resident Evil Canceled By Netflix
Giant Freakin Robot reports that Sony Pictures Screen Gems is developing a new Resident Evil film based on Resident Evil 4. The game has been ported ten times since it was originally released for the GameCube in 2005.
RE4 is the first one in the series that introduced 3rd person shooter mechanics. It was a drastic shift from the fixed camera style many gamers are used to. The story focuses on Leon S. Kennedy who travels to Spain where he has to look for and protect the president’s daughter Ashley Graham. Along the way, he discovers that people are being infected with Las Plagas parasites.
While many are familiar with Resident Evil dealing with zombies from the first game up to Code Veronica, which is based on the T-Virus. The later games generally adapted the fascinating collective aggressive nature of the infected from RE4.
Credit: Sony Pictures
Also, RE4 departed from the usual evil Umbrella Corporation, which was a nice change of pace. Resident Evil 4 was so influential that even the Resident Evil 2 Remake and Resident Evil 3 Remake were made into 3rd person perspective action shooters instead of the usual fixed camera view.
This is interesting news considering a Resident Evil 4 Remake for the PC, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 is about to be released in the coming weeks.
Eighteen years since its original release and the title is still incredibly strong today.
Resident Evil Is Being Rebooted… Again!
Credit: Sony Pictures
READ MORE: James Cameron Reveals Resident Evil Is One Of His Guilty-Pleasure Movies
Because of how popular RE4 was, Capcom even made animated movies that were very much connected to the games. It started back in 2008 with Resident Evil: Degeneration. A fourth film is currently close to being released, titled Resident Evil: Death Island which is still led by Leon Kennedy.
A Resident Evil Reboot would be great, especially if it’s focusing on the fourth game. I’m open to seeing a live-action adaptation of RE4. Previous movies focused on the Umbrella Corporation for too long. Even with the last films of Paul W.S. Anderson, even though it was set in a post-apocalyptic world à la Mad Max, the film still dealt with the same old evil corporation.
Also, I’d like to see the infected in live action. Instead of just being zombies, they are a collective determined to kill Leon. That can be freaky just thinking about it.
I want them to present a fresh take and bring the franchise in a new direction. I want the Umbrella Corporation to take a back seat for a bit. And I’d love to see Leon Kennedy stepping up to take the lead.
We still have to wait for an official word from Capcom or Sony Pictures Screen Gems if this is all true. But from my perspective, I think it is the right direction to take.
What do you think of the Resident Evil Reboot? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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If there is a another movie take the key character traits from re5, re6, re4 from the games. I would absolutely love if they made half the movie on the re6 storyline. I love the story and characters.