The Resident Evil movie franchise, which is the most successful film series based on a video game, is confirmed to be heading into a reboot.
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter was previously described as the last movie in the franchise, but like the zombies that terrorize the series, it seems that it will be rising from the dead.
'Resident Evil' Film Franchise Reboot
Constantin Film board chairman Martin Moszkowicz confirmed to Variety at the Cannes Film Festival that a reboot of the Resident Evil movie franchise is currently in development. The German production company owns the rights to the movie series and is behind all six Resident Evil films released.
The movie franchise, based on the horror-survival video game franchise of Capcom, is the most successful film franchise based on a video game. It has earned $1.2 billion worldwide, allowing it to also earn the title of being the most successful independent horror film franchise in Europe.
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter raked in $312 million in earnings worldwide after it was released in January, with more than half of that amount at $160 million coming from China. Sony helped pave way for the sixth movie's success after it secured China releases of Resident Evil: Extinction and Resident Evil: Afterlife, the third and fourth films in the franchise.
All six Resident Evil movies have starred Milla Jovovich as Alice, a security operative for Umbrella who became its enemy after the outbreak of the T-Virus that transformed humans into zombies. Her husband, Paul W.S. Anderson, wrote all six films and directed four of them.
What Will The 'Resident Evil' Movie Reboot Be Like?
Anderson's involvement in the reboot is currently in question, as he is currently busy with a big screen adaptation of Monster Hunter, another successful video game franchise of Capcom, set to be released in late 2017 or early 2018.
If Anderson would not be involved in the reboot, it is highly likely that Jovovich will also be out of the movie. This would mean that the reboot might take a different direction from the first six Resident Evil films, which featured intense action and combat scenes.
While it might be a bad idea to deviate from a tried and tested formula, it has recently been proven that a change in focus is good for Resident Evil. Resident Evil 7, released early this year for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, drew rave reviews for moving away from the high-action experience that started in Resident Evil 4.
In Resident Evil 7, horror is once again the focus as it slowed down the pace and delivered one of the "most vicious and powerful horror experiences ever created." The title launched with great success, topping sales in the United States for January as gamers took the challenge of trying to survive through the Baker house and its frightening inhabitants.
The refocused Resident Evil 7 could be the inspiration for the film franchise reboot. The series started out as action films from the very start, and perhaps the reboot will shift the genre of the movie into horror.
