2021 is going to be the biggest ever year for the Resident Evil franchise. Capcom is planning to mark the horror series’ 25th anniversary with Resident Evil Village, two new Netflix TV shows and a movie reboot that promises to be more faithful to the plot of the games. 47 Meters Down’s Johannes Roberts is in the director’s chair and iconic characters like Claire Redfield, Jill Valentine, Chris Redfield, Leon Kennedy and Albert Wesker will feature in a plot that’s said to combine elements of 1996’s Resident Evil and 1998’s Resident Evil 2.
For those seeking a story closer to Capcom’s source material than what the previous films offered, everything is looking great. Set photos have shown us locations recreated almost exactly from the games and they’ve chosen an appropriate real-life location to stand in for the Spencer Mansion. But while the setting is important, the B.O.W.s stalking its corridors are the real stars.
We don’t have sight of a Hunter, Licker or Cerberus yet, but we do have what appears to be the first look at a zombie from the movie. This comes courtesy of Applied Arts FX Studio’s Instagram page and shows an image from a T-shirt given to the crew. To my eyes, this seems to be the first zombie you encounter in the original game, which memorably turns its head and begins to pursue you, and you can check it out down below.
The photo was posted with a caption marking the end of the shoot, saying:
“That’s a wrap on Resident Evil, and what a fun RE inspired shirt the production handed out to everyone. A tough shoot, almost entirely on location, during Covid times, and generally about 17-18 hour days on set for our team, but we managed to pull together some cool work. Huge thanks to the entire team who contributed.”
It’s looking like Resident Evil will hit theaters (COVID-19 permitting) sometime in 2021. An exact release date hasn’t been announced, though a leak onto a German site indicated that September 9th, 2021 might be a good day to keep clear in your diary. Let’s hope we get a teaser trailer a little sooner, though, because I’m desperate to see some of my favorite video game characters back on the big screen.
