Sony has dropped the first trailer for their Resident Evil film from Weapons and Barbarian helmer Zach Cregger that was previewed in room only at CinemaCon earlier this month.
The trailer finds star Austin Abrams trudging through a snowy night and up to a dark, empty house. He had a problem on the road, he says, and wants to use the phone. Calling his girlfriend from inside, he says, “Some things have happened,” he’s in “a seriously f*cked-up situation,” and “we might not get to talk to each other again.”
We later hear the screech of creatures and a view at one large one who resembles Stellan Skarsgård’s Baron Vladimir Harkonnen from Denis Villeneuve’s Dune films, along with shots of bloodied zombies, an overturned vehicle, bodies falling and exploding bloodily in the snowy street, and more.
Abrams’ character is Bryan, a medical courier who unwittingly finds himself in a nonstop race for survival as one fateful, horrifying night collapses around him in chaos. The film marks the latest big-screen adaptation of Resident Evil, the popular horror video game series from Capcom, which has translated into one of the highest-grossing video game-based movie franchises ever.
In his appearance at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, Cregger said the film is “a big, scary ride” he hoped would be “true to the spirit of the games.”
In comparison to his past films, he said, his take on Resident Evil will have “no narrative acrobatics, time jumps or disorienting chapter things.” Rather, viewers will be “locked in with a protagonist on a foot journey through a world hell-bent on destroying them.”
Launched in 1996, the Resident Evil video game franchise centers on the outbreak of a deadly virus tied to the shadowy Umbrella Corporation.
Milla Jovovich led the original six-film series, which launched in 2002 and led to more than $1.2 billion in worldwide box office grosses. More recently, Sony returned to the world of Resident Evil with the Johannes Roberts-helmed 2021 reboot Welcome to Raccoon City.
Coming off of Weapons — a critical and commercial smash for Warner Bros. that earned Amy Madigan an Oscar and grossed over $269M worldwide — Cregger directed the new Resident Evil from a script written with Shay Hatten. Constantin Film produced the pic and co-financed. The cast also includes Zach Cherry, Kali Reis and Paul Walter Hauser. Producers included Robert Kulzer, Cregger, Roy Lee, Miri Yoon, Carter Swan and Asad Qizilbash. Executive producers are Oliver Berben, Victor Hadida, Richard Wright and Robert Bernacchi.
From Columbia Pictures and Constantin Film, in association with TriStar Pictures, Resident Evil hits theaters September 18. Check out the trailer above.
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings