Leave it to Netflix to crack the video game adaptation.
For decades, Hollywood’s biggest studios pumped millions into films based on classic titles – from Super Mario to Mortal Kombat to Final Fantasy, the Powers That Be left no stone unturned in their quest for the Next Big Thing. And, well, unless we’re counting the recent Detective Pikachu movie, pretty much every game-to-film adaptation fell flat.
But with Netflix comes a new lease of hope, particularly after the online streamer found success in both Castlevania and, more recently, The Witcher. The trick, it seems, is to allow a video game IP and all of its lore to unfold across multiple episodes. Which is exactly the plan for Capcom’s Resident Evil franchise.
Yes, the saga of Redfield and Wesker and the Umbrella Corporation is coming to Netflix, and we’ve learned today that it’ll consist of eight episodes in total. At least, in its first season.
Word comes by way of The Witcher fan site Redanian Intelligence (h/t Metro), which claims that the eight-episode debut season of Resident Evil is due to begin filming this summer, presumably ahead of a 2021 premiere. Not only that, but it seems viewers will be tracking the story of Jade and Billie Wesker, half-sisters and daughters of Albert Wesker, a man whose presence has loomed over this franchise from the very beginning.
File that one in the rumor cabinet for now, as there’s no sign of an official confirmation. Nevertheless, previous intel has revealed that Netflix plans to “expand the Resident Evil universe and deepen the exiting mythology,” as the series explores “the dark inner workings of the Umbrella Corporation and the new world order caused by the outbreak of the T-virus.” Colour us very, very intrigued.
