- Primary Subject: Resident Evil
- Key Update: Director Zach Cregger explained that his movie tells an original story rather than directly adapting game plotlines to preserve survival horror tension and avoid cannibalizing existing lore.
- Status: Confirmed
- Last Verified: July 24, 2026
- Quick Answer: Zach Cregger skipped adapting the video game storylines to capture survival horror tension through an original character without retelling existing character arcs.
Sony Pictures Entertainment has finally dropped the official teaser trailer for the highly anticipated Zach Cregger horror opus Resident Evil.
Evidently, the film is set in the world of the hit Capcom game series, but it tells an original story. So, why did Cregger opt not to adapt the games' story like his predecessors? The director has finally shared his reasons.
Why Didn't Zach Cregger Adapt the Original Resident Evil Story?
The new Resident Evil trailer gives a full look at the new character Bryan (Austin Abrams) and how he ends up in Raccoon City.
Compared to the original story, where S.T.A.R.S. members investigate a mysterious mansion overrun by zombies and monsters created by the T-virus, Bryan is tasked with making a delivery to Raccoon City General for double pay. So, why is the movie's story different from the game's?
“I love that it's not survival action, it's survival horror. And it's like this slow, creeping dread where you progress from set piece to set piece, and you always feel like you have maybe just enough to survive,” Cregger said at the movie's preview event (via ComicBook).
For the filmmaker, he wanted viewers to experience the same emotions while watching the movie that gamers feel when playing the games.
So, instead of making the new Resident Evil a direct adaptation of the games, it's simply set in their world and draws inspiration from their atmosphere, tension, and mythology while telling an original story with new events and characters, setting it apart from previous movie adaptations.
“Making a movie's really hard, but it just feels like it's right there, it's in the games, just do what they do so well,” Cregger explained. “And so I just wanted to make a movie that would, like, celebrate everything I think makes those games so special, but not cannibalize the stories that those games tell so well.”
The Weapons director added that he couldn't tell a specific character's story, like Leon's, better than the games, so he opted to create his own.
“That feels to me like kind of a losing endeavor,” he admitted. “But to tell a story that lives in the world of Raccoon City, on the eve of the outbreak, and playing by the rules where the Umbrella Corporation, the T-Virus, and all those things are there, but this story just kind of happens, you know, over here. That feels like a really fertile place to live. So that was kind of the thinking behind this.”
For Cregger, he wanted his version of the film to give fans of the games something that feels “deliberate.”
“I want people to feel seen. Because I love these games, and I am making this to celebrate these games,” he added. “So that is something I really hope.”
Resident Evil is set to hit theaters on September 18.
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