Cregger: “Resident Evil” Fans May Crucify Me

“Weapons” filmmaker Zach Cregger says he hopes fans of the “Resident Evil” game franchise won’t “crucify” him for deviating from the franchise’s lore for his upcoming film adaptation of the property.

Speaking with The New York Times for a feature piece on the varying quality of game-to-screen adaptations, Cregger admits that he “warily crosses his arms whenever he hears of a project inspired by a game he loves” according to the paper.

He also says he expects some negative responses to his film, as pleasing all the fans of a major franchise is impossible. But he hopes people go with the tone:

“I love the idea of being pitted against a world that is hellbent on annihilating you. It just feels fun, and I haven’t seen a movie that offers that sort of experience.”

Cregger wrote the screenplay with Shay Hatten, with the film following a laid-back organ courier sent on a late-night delivery to Raccoon City, who stumbles into a full-blown outbreak involving bio-engineered monstrosities.

Cregger previously said that while this is horror, don’t expect a haunting tone but rather something “rock ’em, sock ’em” along “Evil Dead II” lines, so he can “get crazy with the camera. … It’s a weird, fun, wild story.”

Austin Abrams, Paul Walter Hauser, Zach Cherry, Kali Reis, and Johnno Wilson star in the film, which Robert Kulzer, Roy Lee, Miri Yoon, Asad Qizilbash and Carter Swan produce the film and which opens September 17th.