Resident Evil movie trailer wins over fans with nods to classic games | Gaming | Entertainment

Resident Evil fans have been let down plenty of times in the past by films based on the horror franchise. But Zach Cregger might be the man to restore their faith in movie adaptations.

The latest trailer for this year’s Resident Evil movie reboot has dropped, and it teases a tense affair with a new narrative. Cregger, the movie’s director, looks to have made a film that at least pays very clever homage to the games. For now, that seems to be winning over the purists.

Many gamers have bemoaned how previous Resident Evil movies ‘ruined’ beloved characters, and this is the second attempt at starting over on the big screen. But with this film, apparently a standalone story told in the world of Raccoon City, the T-Virus and Umbrella Corporation, fans are optimistic.

Having helmed recent horror hit Weapons and 2022’s Barbarian, Cregger also co-wrote the new Resident Evil film with John Wick 3 screenwriter Shay Hatten. It’s definitely looking to respect the source material if the trailer is anything to go by.

Starring Austin Abrams in the lead role as a medical courier, Resident Evil follows Bryan (Abrams) as he gets caught in a viral outbreak of infected monsters in Raccoon City.

The trailer depicts Bryan trying to ward off at least one especially creepy zombie, but he comes across a number of classic Resident Evil problems while doing so. Fans on Reddit have praised what they’ve seen so far.

One wrote: “I’m at the very least sold on the pitch that it’s a movie that feels like playing a survival horror game. Like the scene where missing the lock wastes his limited ammo is a good translation of the genre between mediums.”

A second added: “From the taxidermy birds, shotgun shells, the shotgun on mantel… It’s awesome that we very much are entering an era of film where they know how to make adaptations of IPs while keeping true to the source.”

One part of the trailer where Bryan finds a shotgun, only to learn that it is empty and has to search for shells, was a “brilliant reference to the games”, according to a third Reddit user. A fourth said: “I just hope he saved his progress when he found that typewriter in the trailer”.

Resident Evil is scheduled for release on Friday, September 18.