‘Resident Evil’ Director Zach Cregger Explains How His Movie Is Staying Loyal to the Games

I’ve watched Resident Evil director Zach Cregger get absolutely lambasted online by fans who want this new movie to finally give them a faithful adaptation featuring the characters they’ve known and loved for decades.

And look, that’s fair. If you grew up playing these games, I completely understand wanting to finally see that version of Resident Evil on the big screen.

But here’s the thing: Zach Cregger is also a fucking fan.

If his idea of what a Resident Evil movie should be doesn’t perfectly align with yours, that doesn’t make his interpretation wrong. Personally, I want a filmmaker with his own vision and his own take. I don’t want a studio forcing somebody to make the version of Resident Evil that checks every box on a fan-service spreadsheet.

The pushback has gotten loud enough that the studio now seems determined to prove just how deeply Cregger knows and loves these games. And while I think having to prove his fandom is ridiculous, I absolutely love this new video because it finally illustrates what Cregger has been talking about all along.

His movie may not follow the familiar characters and storylines, but he’s trying to recreate the actual experience of playing Resident Evil.

Cregger explains:

“I happen to worship these Resident Evil games and pull a lot of inspiration from the experience of playing them. I try to keep the environment changing every seven or eight minutes, like the games. You know, you’re always kind of moving into another level, as it were.”

That extends to the way his protagonist progresses through the movie:

“The games always kind of have this progression where you start with a pistol, then you graduate to a shotgun, and then you graduate to a machine gun.”

And yes, plenty of familiar Resident Evil iconography is apparently making the jump to the screen.