Nobody could have quite predicted the cultural impact of Weapons' red-haired antagonist Aunt Gladys, which culminated in an Oscar win for actor Amy Madigan – least of all Zach Cregger. With a new horror movie on the way, this time an adaptation of the Resident Evil video games, does the director think lightning could strike twice?
"That was kind of an amazing moment with Amy and I think we were all surprised at how much it resonated with people," Cregger says in an interview attended by GamesRadar+. On top of an Academy Award win, Gladys spawned many, many Halloween costumes, memes, and Oscars host Conan O'Brien even dressed up as her for the show's opening skit (and, most prestigious of all, GamesRadar+ named her our villain of the year for 2025.
"I think I would be deluding myself if I thought that was something I'd be able to just recreate at will," he continues. "So who's to say? But there are some very unique adversaries in this [movie] that I think are really fun and that people haven't seen before, that still kind of belong in the world of the games. They're going to fit in. They're not going to break the lore of Resident Evil. But I also think that they're new.
"And so I'm excited to see how people respond to those, but I think that Austin [Abrams] is going to be what people really, really resonate with. Because, for me, what's so fun about this movie is that the character that Austin's playing is very much like an avatar for me, and how I would behave and how I would respond if I was dropped into a Resident Evil game. I am not a badass at all. I don't know how to use guns very well. I miss 99% of the shots I take, and I would be running in terror and cussing my face off at every encounter. And I think it's going to be really fun to be following somebody through this gauntlet that is not, like, SEAL Team Six-level prepared, you know. And so I think that's going to be something that hopefully people will really get a kick out of."
Abrams plays Bryan, a medical courier and original character who finds himself swept up in the chaos of Raccoon City during a job gone wrong. "I never wanted to tell the story of any of the characters from the games," Cregger tells us.
"I figure if I am honoring the games, I'm just going to tell another story that feels like playing in the world of the game, but I'm not stepping on the toes of any of Leon's storyline. I'm not recasting Leon, god forbid. You know, I'm letting Leon stay Leon. And I feel like that's the most respectful thing I could do."
The Resident Evil movie arrives in theaters on September 18. While we wait, check out our guide to all the other upcoming video game movies on the way.
