Zach Cregger's ‘Resident Evil' Reboot Sparks Bidding War

It took THR over four months to finally catch up with Jeff Sneider’s 09.23.24 scoop.

Zach Cregger (“Barbarian”) is attached to helm a ‘Resident Evil’ reboot. The zombie franchise, which has already had seven instalments to its name, will have Cregger overseeing “a full reboot that would start from scratch.” The last ‘Resident Evil’ installment was released almost 10 years ago.

Now here comes news that Cregger’s version of ‘Resident Evil,’ which will be more horror-focused, and more faithful to the initial games, has sparked a bidding war. There are currently four studios in the middle of this “intense” bidding war for the project, including Warner Bros and Netflix. The other two studios were not named.

‘Resident Evil,’ based on the Capcom video games, is a hybrid of horror, sci-fi and action, following the adventures of a heroine who fights zombies, and a bio warfare company that let loose the monsters. In total, the seven movies, all critically panned, have grossed over $1.2B worldwide.

Speaking of “Weapons,” I had previously mentioned how the film, starring Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, among others, was garnering glowing reactions at test screenings. THR is now echoing my previous reporting.

The word on “Weapons” is very strong and has been testing quite high, according to sources. And Warners, which has not yet dated the movie, is likely doing everything it can to keep Cregger in its talent fold.

Back in 2023, Cregger’s “Weapons” spec script also spawned a bidding war, between multiple studios, with Warner Bros/New Line winning the rights by acquiring it for a whopping $38M. The film was shot last year, and there’s a real possibility it could be released this fall.

Cregger turned a lot of heads in late 2022 when “Barbarian” became a critical and commercial success, grossing $45M against a skimp $4.5M budget. What’s even more astonishing about Cregger’s success is that his previous work, including being part of the comedy troupe The Whitest Kids U Know, could not, in any way shape or form, predict his surprising ascension as one of the hottest Hollywood genre filmmakers.