Netflix’s Resident Evil series, about the impact of a deadly virus on a small community, has been indefinitely delayed by the real-life deadly Coronavirus. Fortunately for us, the Coronavirus doesn’t have a lot else in common with the T-Virus, which reanimates the dead and creates homicidal genetic monstrosities.
Capcom and Netflix’s take on the franchise would have been a unique spin on Resident Evil. The show was being produced by German production company Constantin, whose plan was to move away from the games’ premise of unlucky S.T.A.R.S. members stumbling into an experiment gone wrong and having to survive the horrors unleashed by it.
Instead, it sounds as if it’d take a wider view, showing us the long-term impact of the Umbrella Corporation’s nefarious activities on a town. The show would likely have featured Umbrella employees at work on various B.O.W.s, before they inevitably escape and wreak havoc.
Resident Evil was to have consisted of eight episodes, each an hour long, and pre-production was due to begin in April, with the shoot scheduled to take place in South Africa from June through October. Sadly, however, South Africa, like many countries around the world, is now on indefinite lockdown. This means that prep cannot start and filming will not begin in June as planned, which also means that Resident Evil is not happening anytime soon.
Of course, Coronavirus is having an impact on everything at the moment, whatever the stage of production. It’s shut down work on all Marvel Studios movies, all of Warner Bros.’ big projects, delayed many releases indefinitely and even movies that are in post-production can’t find the staff to finish them up.
Personally, I thought the premise of this take on Resident Evil sounded pretty neat, so here’s hoping it eventually hits Netflix and that the delay isn’t too lengthy.
