As the architect behind the Resident Evil franchise, Paul W.S. Anderson knows a thing or two about turning a popular video game property into a money-spinning series of movies. None of the six installments found much favor with critics, but Resident Evil definitely had a lot of fans judging by the fact that it became the highest-grossing video game franchise in history after raking in over $1.2 billion at the box office.
Anderson has long been known to dabble in the genre, with his second feature being 1995’s cult classic Mortal Kombat, and he’s sticking to what he knows with his latest project, re-teaming with wife and frequent collaborator Milla Jovovich to tackle the Monster Hunter series. The $60 million fantasy epic is still slated to arrive during the first weekend of September but we haven’t seen much in the way of footage from the movie yet, although official images have started making their way online with increasing regularity.
While it remains to be seen if Monster Hunter will make the intended release date with the domino effect caused by the Coronavirus still having an impact on the upcoming theatrical schedule, the filmmaker is nonetheless kicking the hype train into another gear, and recently revealed that his monsters will give the dinosaurs from Jurassic World a run for their money.
“All our monsters are 50-60 feet tall. They’re really amazing. We’re building them in even more detail than the dinosaurs of Jurassic World. And they look even better, because we shot on real locations in South Africa and Namibia, which gives the animators something to really match into. Real wind, real dust, real sun-flare. The monsters are the only CG thing in there.”
The monsters might be the only CG creations in the frame, but getting them right could make or break the movie’s chances of success, because there are few things capable of ruining the suspension of disbelief that comes with the fantasy genre quicker than poorly-rendered visual effects. Monster Hunter isn’t exactly on the prowl for awards season glory, mind you, but the concept has enough potential to be a success for audiences desperate for some well-earned escapism.