The Conjuring director James Wan is a very in-demand talent at the moment, and things are likely to stay that way if Aquaman sustains its box office success. So when it was announced earlier this year that the filmmaker would produce the upcoming reboot of the Resident Evil series, many horror fans quickly got their hopes up that this might be one video game adaptation that’s worth our attention. Unfortunately, it seems that our enthusiasm was premature, with Wan now confirming that he’s no longer attached to the project.
The news came in an interview with Bloody Disgusting amidst discussions of the new Aquaman.
“I’m not doing that anymore,” Wan said of the next Resident Evil. “That has been dropped.”
Wan went on to express his frustration at announcements being made before his involvement in a project is set in stone, saying:
“They announce that I’m attached to a lot of stuff and a lot of them are not necessarily real. It’s kind of annoying when things come and go, or things never came in the first place. I hate it when my projects get announced. It makes it seem like I’m attached to a lot of things when in fact I’m not necessarily doing so many things. A lot of my stuff just get announced and I don’t want them to be announced but people love to announce them.”
The filmmaker lamented further how the media has a habit of jumping the gun on such news, adding that “It’s the journalists that want to announce stuff.” Indeed, Wan has a history of shooting down reports about his work, taking to Twitter a few months ago to deny the rumors that things are moving forward already for the Mortal Kombat movie he’s set to produce.
Nonetheless, one horror project that Wan has confirmed he’s still attached to is the American remake of Train to Busan:
“Train to Busan, because it’s such a beloved property, it’s important if I don’t feel we can do it right and do it justice, it’s not something I want to do.”
On top of that, Wan has also reaffirmed that he’s involved in an adaption of Stephen King’s The Tommyknockers, which the producer called “a fucking honor. Geez, Stephen King, how can you not be honored by that and to have Stephen’s blessing on that.”
Evidently, Wan has a lot on his plate, even if Resident Evil is apparently not on the schedule, but you can find out what he’s spent these last couple of years working on when Aquaman hits theaters on December 21st.
