Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil Film Sends Austin Abrams Into a New Raccoon City Nightmare
Sony Pictures has released the first trailer for Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil, giving audiences a first look at the next big-screen reboot of the long-running survival horror franchise. The film comes from Cregger, the writer-director behind Barbarian and Weapons, and follows a new character rather than directly retelling one of the video games.
Photo Credit: Sony Pictures
The new buzz-worthy trailer reveals that the film centers on Bryan, played by Austin Abrams (Weapons), a medical courier who finds himself pulled into a night of escalating horror as chaos breaks out around him.
The footage wastes no time, leaning into the franchise’s familiar ingredients: infected bodies, dimly lit locations, sudden violence, eerie mutations, and the growing sense that an ordinary delivery has become something much more dangerous.
A New Route Through the Franchise
Cregger has said the film is designed to feel like the experience of playing a Resident Evil game, with one character moving from place to place as the danger keeps changing. In a recent interview with PlayStation Blog, he said the movie takes place around the world of Resident Evil 2, while following a different person during a disastrous night in Raccoon City.
That approach also shapes the survival-horror mechanics of the movie. Cregger pointed to resource management, weapon progression and shifting environments as key parts of what he wanted to bring from the games to the screen, including the feeling of starting small and gradually being forced deeper into danger.
The cast of the new Resident Evil includes Abrams, Zach Cherry, Kali Reis and Paul Walter Hauser. Cregger co-wrote the film with Shay Hatten.
Resident Evil opens in theaters on September 18, 2026.
