It’s not hard to see why, pretty much from the moment the first game dropped, the Resident Evil franchise was destined to make it to the big screen — the game’s oppressive atmosphere and sinister mystery narrative not only revolutionized the survival horror genre but also felt deeply cinematic at the time. It didn’t take long for fans to see the effects – not only was it one of the inspirations behind 28 Days Later and the resurgence of zombie films in the early 2000s, but only six years after the first game’s release, Resident Evil got a film adaptation of its own, courtesy of Paul W.S. Anderson. While the Anderson Resident Evil film franchise was a huge financial success for Sony Pictures, the original came out at a time where adaptations (especially for video games) seemed to be ashamed of their source material, which meant six films spiraling off into their own convoluted continuity.
Since the conclusion of Anderson’s franchise in 2016, fans of the games have been begging for an adaptation that follows the established narrative and canon, but this year’s upcoming reboot has already made it clear they won’t be playing to the same tune as the games. However, in 2021, those wishes were granted by an abandoned reboot that flew under the radar, even though it’s probably the most direct adaptation thus far.
