After all those years playing the original “Resident Evil” games on your old PlayStation 1 and 2, the “Resident Evil” film franchise is again in the hands of PlayStation.
A reboot of the “Resident Evil” franchise from director Zach Cregger (“Barbarian”) has landed at Sony Pictures and producer PlayStation Productions, bringing the Capcom game back home to its roots and some of the people who know the games best. Sony has even already given the film a release date of September 18, 2026.
Though Sony’s Screen Gems label produced the original “Resident Evil” film franchise as directed by Paul W. S. Anderson, a return to PlayStation wasn’t a guarantee. Warner Bros. and New Line, which released “Barbarian” and is putting out Cregger’s next feature “Weapons” in January 2026, were circling the project, sparking a bidding war for the horror video game IP.
Cregger is directing “Resident Evil” as his next project after “Weapons,” and he’s also co-writing the script with Shay Hatten (“John Wick 4,” “Rebel Moon”). Plot details are being kept under wraps, but after the “Resident Evil” films with Milla Jovovich stopped resembling the still running video games a long long time ago, having it in the hands of PlayStation suggests it’ll hew closer to Capcom’s original vision.
Constantin Film is producing and co-financing the film. Constantin’s Robert Kulzer, Vertigo Entertainment’s Roy Lee and Miri Yoon, and PlayStation Productions are also producing.
The six “Resident Evil” movies, which date back to 2002 and ran through 2012 (there was also a 2021 film “Raccoon City” and a Netflix series in 2022), have grossed $1.2 billion at the worldwide box office, making it one of the more lucrative video game-to-film franchises.
Cregger’s “Weapons” was sold as a spec script in a bidding war to New Line after his debut “Barbarian” was a surprise box office hit, grossing $45 million worldwide against a budget of $4.5 million. His new film stars Josh Brolin, Julia Garner, and Alden Ehrenreich, and the recently released “Companion,” which Cregger produced for New Line, has also been a sleeper hit with $34.8 million at the box office so far.
Up next for PlayStation Productions is of course the second season of its mega hit “The Last of Us,” which HBO is releasing next month, and it also has the horror film “Until Dawn” opening next month as well. The video game brand is also in the works on series adaptations of its biggest tentpoles “God of War,” “Horizon: Zero Dawn,” and a “Ghost of Tsushima” film.
Deadline first reported the news.
