Resident Evil

Films

Original series

In January 1997, Constantin Film acquired the live-action film rights to the Resident Evil franchise with Alan B. McElroy possibly writing the script. George A. Romero was hired by Sony Pictures and Capcom to direct and write Resident Evil. His script was later rejected and he was ultimately dropped. While Romero's script was supported by a number of people from Capcom and Constantin, it was rejected by Constantin producer Bernd Eichinger, as well as Capcom producer Yoshiki Okamoto. A documentary based on this adaptation was released on digital on January 7, 2025. In late 2000, Paul W. S. Anderson was announced as director and writer. Anderson stated the film would not include any tie-ins with the video game series as "under-performing movie tie-ins are too common and Resident Evil, of all games, deserved a good celluloid representation". In 2001, Milla Jovovich was cast as Alice, an original character who serves as the main protagonist of the film. By May 2001, Columbia TriStar was in final negotiations to acquire North American distribution rights to the film and budgeted it at $40 million.

In the film, the Umbrella Corporation operates a secret genetic research facility named the Hive. Located beneath Raccoon City, the Hive has been sealed by its AI, the Red Queen, after the release of the T-virus into the facility. The Red Queen kills everyone in the facility to ensure that the T-virus does not reach the surface, but the T-virus reanimates them, transforming the humans and animals into aggressive zombies and mutants. Alice was once a security operative working for the corporation until her memory was wiped by the Red Queen's nerve gas. As her team investigates the Hive, a monstrous Umbrella test subject called a Licker pursues them onto a train. Alice survives along with teammate Matt Addison, but they are separated and taken by an Umbrella hazmat unit, where Matt begins to genetically transform. Alice awakens from a coma to a ravaged Raccoon City after a T-virus outbreak.

A sequel began production in 2003 after the success of the first film. Anderson returned as the writer but, due to his work on Alien vs. Predator, Alexander Witt took over the director's role. The film released on September 10, 2004.

In the film, the viral outbreak reaches the surface and to contain the infection, Major Timothy Cain seals all exits to and from Raccoon City. Among the people trapped in the city are Jill Valentine and her partner Peyton Wells. After Alice awakens from her coma, she rescues Jill and Peyton from a group of Licker monsters. They are contacted by Dr. Charles Ashford, who directs them to an evacuation point in exchange for the rescue of his daughter Angela, trapped elsewhere in the city. Weapon Nemesis attacks the team after Cain commands it to kill all STARS (Special Tactics And Rescue Service) members. The team rescues Angela and makes its way to the evacuation helicopter guided by Umbrella mercenary Carlos Olivera. After Alice's confrontation with Cain and Nemesis leaves them dead, she and the team fly away from Raccoon City as it is destroyed by a nuclear missile. The helicopter crashes in the Arklay Mountains, and Alice is found by an Umbrella search team and taken to a research station. When Alice awakens, she displays extraordinary powers, and escapes with help from Jill and Carlos. As they drive away, Dr. Alexander Isaacs, a top-ranking Umbrella employee, reveals that Alice's escape is part of Umbrella's plan.

Reboot

In May 2017, Constantin chairman Martin Moszkowicz stated that a reboot of the series was in development. In the same month, it was announced that James Wan would produce the reboot with a script by Greg Russo, with both later leaving the project. In December 2018, Johannes Roberts was hired as writer and director. Roberts stated that his film will be separate from the previous films in the series, with the story being based on Resident Evil and Resident Evil 2. By October 2020, the principal cast was reported with Kaya Scodelario cast as Claire Redfield, Hannah John-Kamen as Jill Valentine, Robbie Amell as Chris Redfield, Neal McDonough as William Birkin, Tom Hopper as Albert Wesker, and Avan Jogia as Leon S. Kennedy. Other cast members, Donal Logue, Chad Rook, Lily Gao and Marina Mazepa were cast as Chief Brian Irons, Richard Aiken, Ada Wong and Lisa Trevor, respectively. Filming began on October 17, 2020, in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, with reshoots in May 2021. The film was released on November 24, 2021, by Sony Pictures Releasing in the United States.

Claire Redfield uncovers secrets about the Umbrella Corporation's experiments and accidents and travels back to her hometown of Raccoon City to warn her brother Chris Redfield. Meanwhile, a zombie outbreak begins after residents are poisoned in the water supply. Chris, along with fellow STARS members Jill Valentine and Albert Wesker, travel to the Spencer Mansion to recover bravo team and find out what is happening in the town. Claire travels with rookie police officer Leon S. Kennedy to the Raccoon City Orphanage to flee the city before it is destroyed, where they encounter a Licker and Claire's old friend Lisa Trevor. Wesker betrays Jill and attempts to steal the virus produced by Dr. William Birkin, a scientist working for the Umbrella Corporation. On the verge of death, Birkin injects himself with the G-virus, saving his life and mutating him into the Tyrant. The survivors flee on an underground train with Birkin's daughter Sherry and destroy the tyrant with a rocket launcher. In a mid-credits scene, Albert Wesker is saved from death by Ada Wong and is given his trademark sunglasses.

Second reboot

In January 2025, it was reported that Zach Cregger was writing and directing a new film reboot, co-produced by Constantin Film and PlayStation Productions. In March 2025, Sony Pictures won a bidding war to secure the rights to the Resident Evil franchise, including its upcoming untitled project, with Columbia Pictures serving as the film's new distributor. Sony has set a release date of September 18, 2026 for the project. In June 2025, it was reported that the project had registered to film in the Czech Republic. In August 11, 2025, Austin Abrams was confirmed to star in the film. Filming was scheduled to begin in Prague in November 2025. Cregger stated that he had never seen any of the previous Resident Evil films and that the upcoming movie will be more closely based on the video game series, particularly Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, and Resident Evil 4. On September 17, 2025 Paul Walter Hauser was cast in a role. The next month, Zach Cherry, Kali Reis and Johnno Wilson were cast in roles with Cherry as a scientist and Reis as an ex-military character that was originally written for a male actor.

Television

Resident Evil (2022)

In January 2019, Netflix was in development of a series based upon the Resident Evil franchise. At the time, Deadline Hollywood reported that the series was to be set in the universe of the films, but when the series was ordered in 2020, Andrew Dabb was hired and confirmed that it would not. Resident Evil premiered on July 14, 2022, to negative reviews from both critics and audiences alike. In August 2022, the series was canceled after one season.

Cast and crew

Principal cast

This table shows the major characters that were featured in the films, sorted according to the actors' billing order, those adapted from the video games.

A dark grey cell indicates that the character was not in the film.

An O indicates an original character that was later adapted by the video games.

A Y indicates a role as a younger version of the character.

A U indicates an uncredited role.

A C indicates a cameo role.

A V indicates a voice-only role.

An A indicates an appearance through archival footage or photo stills.

Reception

Box office performance

Apocalypse, Extinction, Afterlife and Retribution all opened at number one at the North American box office.

Critical and public response

The first six films, all written and produced by Anderson, received mixed or negative reviews from critics. However, they have gained a cult following among a distinct subset of reviewers. Calum Marsh of the National Post admired the Anderson-directed entries, saying: "The first is classical, close-quarters horror... Part four, Afterlife, is a riot of ludicrous action and superhero brawn... but it's a mere amuse bouche next to the five-star spread of part five, Retribution—a glorious, practically experimental sci-fi action wonder." Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of The A.V. Club called them "lean and lively and fun and totally unpretentious", and commended Anderson's style, "focused on organizing action and orientating the viewer".

Home media

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has released all seven films on DVD, Blu-ray, Ultra HD Blu-ray, and digital download. The original series of films were also released in box sets:

Novelizations

The novelizations for the first three Resident Evil films were written by Keith R. A. DeCandido. The novelization for the fifth film was written by John Shirley, and the sixth by Tim Waggoner. The fourth film did not receive a novelization.

The novel for the first film, titled Resident Evil: Genesis, was published over two years after that film's release, while the Extinction novel was released in late July 2007, two months before the film's release. There was also a Japanese novelization of the first film, unrelated to DeCandido's version, written by Osamu Makino. Makino also wrote two novels based on the game Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles.