Fans finally have their first look at the upcoming film Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City with the release of its first official trailer that dropped today, which you can view above.
The trailer features scenes of protagonists Chris Redfield (played by Robbie Amell) and Jill Valentine (played by Hannah John-Kamen) navigating the creepy Spencer Mansion with other members of the special forces S.T.A.R.S. team in the remote Ohio town of Raccoon City. Coming face to face with undead and ungodly enemies, the moody atmosphere of the trailer further reinforces its dedication to the horror video game source material while pivoting away from the corny action tropes of its cinematic predecessors.
Set in 1998, the movie is a reboot of the Resident Evil movie franchise that promises to more closely align with the narrative and tone of the survival horror PlayStation original that debuted back in 1996.
The upcoming film is written and directed by Johannes Roberts and features Kaya Scodelario as Claire Redfield, Tom Hopper as Albert Wesker and Avan Jogia as Leon S. Kennedy, among other classic characters.
The Paul W.S. Anderson-directed Resident Evil films starring Milla Jovovich took a schlocky action approach to the franchise and were churned out at a surprising pace from 2002 to 2016, with a whopping six installments. The films are often considered a distant cousin to the proper mainline canon of the video game series because they deviate considerably from the main narrative and even tone of the original games. For instance, Jovovich’s Alice character only appears in the films and not any of Capcom’s works.
Hopefully, this new film will bring what many Resident Evil fans have always wanted: an actual cinematic horror movie that pays homage to the original game. If this trailer is any indication, that may be exactly what we’ll get.
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City comes to theaters on November 24th, 2021.
Published: Oct 7, 2021 10:40 am