Development Original plans (2021–2024) Following the release of
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City in November 2021, writer and director
Johannes Roberts stated if a sequel were to be developed, he would like to adapt the story from
Resident Evil – Code: Veronica (2000)—referenced in the film with an appearance of the Ashford Twins—and then
Resident Evil 4 (2005). He also expressed interest in adapting
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (2017) and
Resident Evil Village (2021) in the future. Actor
Robbie Amell stated he hoped to return as
Chris Redfield in a sequel, which included his boulder-punching scene from
Resident Evil 5 (2009). By June 2022, actor
Tom Hopper confirmed that
Sony and
Constantin Film were pleased with the film's success on
video-on-demand (VOD) and said he hoped to play
Albert Wesker again. By October 2022, the film was one of several projects considered by executive producer
Martin Moszkowicz to be in development alongside another television series, which would have replaced
Netflix's series cancelled two months prior, though the exact details were not given, and Moszkowicz was skeptical of films being released for theaters if not projected to be successful. In April 2023, Raccoon HG Productions, which financed
Welcome to Raccoon City, received a grant of million from the
Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation for a film titled
Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles.
Greater Sudbury was picked as the principle location. According to entertainment journalist
Jeff Sneider, the studio was looking at
Zach Cregger to direct the new film.
Zach Cregger's involvement (2024–present) was eyed by
Sony in early 2024 until his confirmation as the film's director and co-writer in January 2025. In January 2025, it was announced Cregger would co-write and direct a new
Resident Evil film, which would serve as a reboot of
the film series. Film rights holder
Constantin Film co-financed and produced, alongside
PlayStation Productions and
Vertigo Entertainment. A bidding war between four major studios ensued for the film's distribution rights, including
Warner Bros. Pictures and
Netflix. In March 2025, it was revealed that
Sony Pictures, which had distributed the previous live-action films under their
Screen Gems label, won the bidding war, with Sony's subsidiary
Columbia Pictures serving as the film's new distributor. In August 2025, Cregger revealed the film would be an original story set in the
Resident Evil universe and would not feature any characters from the games, saying, "I'm not going to tell
Leon's story, because Leon's story is told in the games. [Fans] already have that". Cregger stated, "It's gonna be not at all like
Barbarian (2022) and
Weapons (2025)", instead comparing the film to
Evil Dead II (1987), and that "this is a story that I would've wanted to write whether I got the
IP or not". He went on to describe it as a "love letter to the games", since he is also a player and fan of the video games. In September 2025, Cregger stated he had never seen any of the previous
Resident Evil movies, and the upcoming film would be more closely based on the video game series, particularly
Resident Evil 2 (1998),
Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (1999), and
Resident Evil 4. In an April 2026 interview with
PlayStation Blog, Cregger elaborated by stating he wrote the film to take place concurrently with the events of the Raccoon City outbreak in
Resident Evil 2, but through a different perspective.
Casting In March 2025,
Austin Abrams was in talks to star in the film, after having played a role in Cregger's previous film,
Weapons. This was later confirmed in July. In September,
Paul Walter Hauser joined the cast. In October,
Zach Cherry,
Kali Reis, and Johnno Wilson were announced to have also joined the cast, with Cherry as a scientist and Reis as an ex-military character that was originally written for a male actor.
Filming Principal photography began in
Prague on October 10, 2025, with
Dariusz Wolski serving as
cinematographer. The film was in the editing process by February 2026. ==Release==