We sit down with filmmaker Zach Cregger and star Austin Abrams to discuss ‘Resident Evil’, the scale of the project & what fans can expect.
Can you feel it in the air? We’re just two weeks away from Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil infecting theaters. Two weeks away from seeing what one of the most exciting horror filmmakers of our time has done with one of the genre’s most iconic franchises. Everything we’ve heard and seen so far teases a film as intense and terrifying as playing the games for the first time. Yes, Cregger is a Resident Evil fan. Yes, his movie aims to recreate the terror that the franchise has instilled in gamers for decades. And, yes, for the first time, we may finally have a film shambling our way that fans can and should be excited about.
Listen to Zach or star Austin Abrams discuss the film, and what becomes clear right away is…they know. They know fans haven’t been thrilled about the previous movies. They know the franchise has struggled to live up to expectations on the big screen. They’re well aware of what a new Resident Evil film means. But you had better believe they took all of that and poured it into creating a movie that will do what these films should do…scare the crap out of us. Better yet? They believe they’ve done it.
Don’t take my word for it, though. Dread recently had the pleasure of chatting with the duo to talk all things Resident Evil. A project that Cregger felt the weight of immediately.
“I feel like I had that moment many, many times where I was like, oh boy, this is a lot,” remembers Cregger. “You know, you feel like the dog who caught the mail truck because the script just gets bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger. It’s definitely the biggest thing I’ve ever made. It was daunting for sure.”
Continues Cregger, “But it helps when you have a performer like Austin. I knew the story could work. And if you have a story that can deliver a compelling performance all the way through, you’re already in the end zone, honestly. If you’re watching a movie with an awesome performance at the heart of it, nothing else really matters. You know what I mean? That was one of the things that helped going into this was knowing that people are watching this guy do his thing. It’s gonna be fun. Everything else is small potatoes compared to that. You know, they say ninety percent of directing is casting. I really believe that is true.”
Adds Austin, “I feel like there’s always a moment, especially when you get there, and you’re looking at the set, everything’s actually being built, and you’re prepping, you know, the days are getting close to filming. I feel like those are always times where we’re like, ‘Oh, my God, we’re doing this.’ The decisions that we’re making, these are it for the rest of the shoot. Like the beanie. We had so many beanies we tried. There’s a million of those conversations about everything.”
Cregger’s not wrong. Get a great actor like Austin on board, and half your job is done. I’ve seen the first thirty minutes or so, and let me tell you…The director couldn’t have picked a better actor to play Bryan. Abrams has such a natural, everyman vibe to him that he makes a difficult role look easy. The way he reacts to the terror feels exactly like how many of us would. That was the intent from the get-go, and Cregger knew Abrams would be the perfect guy for the job.
“I had written it before we did Weapons, about a year before,” remembers Cregger. “And then it was one of those things where we were shooting Weapons, and it was just like, oh, this dude [Abrams] would be great for that. It was clear. And then I was in the edit of Weapons when Resident Evil got more or less greenlit. Before I even talked to Austin about it, my first conversation with the studio, I was like, ‘This is going to be Austin Abrams. Like, we’re just going to say that now.’ To their credit, they were like, ‘Yeah, absolutely, for sure.’ By the time I reached out to him, it was pretty much a done deal.”
For Austin, Resident Evil may be one of the more challenging and physical roles the actor has done. One that has come with a few close calls, including that near-death experience some of you may have heard about regarding the scene where zombies plummet from buildings above. Scary as it might’ve been, he’s just happy they got the shot.
Says Abrams, “Every time shooting that sequence, it was a little bit terrifying because these super heavy things are falling and you’re really hoping you don’t slip and stuff. But I was just like, I don’t want to fuck up the shot, too, because it takes so long to reset. And you only have so many go’s at it. But, in that instance, it was a new kind of path that I needed to go down so that things would be close, but so it wouldn’t actually happen. I mean, maybe if I did slip, or if I didn’t follow that path, you know, things wouldn’t have gone well, but you know, it all worked out because you just kind of follow the line and do what you gotta do.”
That sequence was far from the only one that had the filmmakers a little nervous.
Recounts Cregger, “The finale of this movie is a lot. It’s big. There were definitely moments where I was like, I hope that this is gonna come together. And I feel very strongly that it did. The movie just keeps getting larger and larger and larger as it goes by design. And so that means that the last sequence is the biggest. There are so many moving parts and so much is going on. But I think I can say with confidence we did stick the landing, and I’m so excited for people to see the end.”
So big that we’ll see Bryan get his hands on the iconic Resident Evil rocket launcher?
Laughing, Cregger assures me, “There’s not gonna be a rocket. No rocket launcher. Things rise in scale. I’m just gonna say that. The scale continues to rise.”
Of course, the filmmaker can’t get into specifics with just how big things get with the creatures of Resident Evil, but he does hint at an exciting new element not in the games.
“I did invent a mechanic for the T-virus in this movie,” says Cregger. “It’s not in the games. It’s critical to the story. I can’t talk about it too much, but I really like it a lot. And I think that when people see it, I hope that they connect with it in the way that I do.”
As for the atmosphere of Cregger’s Resident Evil, the director recently revealed that Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil: Biohazard (part 7) had the heaviest influence on the overall vibe of the film. But just how deep does that influence go?
Says Cregger, “Well, just in terms of the pacing of the game (RE4), you’re moving through so many different locations, and each one has its own kind of unique threat or monster. I really like that you’re never lingering in one place. A lot of the other games, like RE9 recently, you know, it’s like, you’re in one location, and you’re slowly retracing your steps and unlocking new territories in that location. But that’s not quite what this movie does. This movie operates more like RE4, where you’re going linearly from point A to point B. And I know RE4 doubles back on itself a few times here and there, but generally speaking, you know, you’re going from the village, to the lake, to the castle, to the island, you know, so it’s a progression.”
Continues Cregger, “But in terms of RE7, the claustrophobia and the horror of that game feels like a very lived-in, kind of a Texas Chain Saw vibe, where you could feel the real history of these locations. But more than anything, when Ethan comes into play, he’s not a commando like Leon. It’s just that one guy dropped into a catastrophe, trying to survive, you know? And I like that vibe. It’s much more horror-driven than RE4. Four is more camp. It’s not that scary of a game. Seven is scary. You know, so I really responded to the horror-centric kind of character of that game. And I wanted that to be the aesthetic that we used.”
If you’ve seen the trailers or any of the footage, it’s obvious that Cregger is a fan who thought carefully about how to recreate the vibe of the games without losing any of the terror. We’ve seen tons of easter eggs already, but one element you won’t see is the puzzles that the franchise is known for…and for good reason.
“That’s not compelling movie fodder to be solving Indiana Jones riddles and moving statues and those sort of things,” laughs Cregger. “However, he [Abrams] does come up against padlocks throughout the movie, and he’s got to try and navigate those. So I’m kind of like tipping my hat to those sorts of things. But I didn’t want to bog my story down with that, because I want this movie to feel like I’ve slammed my foot on the gas and I never stop. And if I have to have a long sequence of him solving the puzzle, I have to take my foot off the gas.”
Speaking of foot on the gas, with this being the first big IP that Cregger and Abrams have worked on together, we had to know…what other franchises would they like to get behind the wheel of?
Replies Cregger, “If I was gonna dive into another franchise, I think it would be Mad Max. Mad Max is like my favorite thing.”
As for Abrams?
“The Thing just came to mind. I love that movie,” says the actor.
I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’d be first in line to buy a ticket to either Mad Max or The Thing directed by Cregger and starring Abrams. Whatever project we see them team up on next, it’s clear they have something special going.
Soon, we’ll see that chemistry in all its glory when Resident Evil bites into theaters on September 18th.
![Zach Cregger and Austin Abrams on Going Big with ‘Resident Evil’ [September Cover Story]](https://www.dreadcentral.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Screenshot-2026-04-30-at-8.43.55-AM-scaled-e1788719952733.png)
