Sony's New Resident Evil Reboot Premieres at Los Angeles Screening
Sony's latest Resident Evil film, directed by Zach Creggar, debuted at a Los Angeles theater and will roll out at Fantastic Fest before its worldwide release in mid-September.
Sony's second reimagining of the Resident Evil franchise held its world premiere on Tuesday night at The United Theater in Los Angeles, followed by press screenings. The studio has permitted festival attendees to share brief impressions on social media, while full reviews remain under embargo until 9 a.m. PT on Sept. 16. The film is scheduled to screen at Fantastic Fest on Sept. 17 and will open globally on Sept. 18.
Directed by Zach Creggar, the movie returns to Raccoon City amid a new viral outbreak that transforms residents into monsters. Austin Abrams leads the cast as a medical courier caught in the crisis, joined by Zach Cherry, Kali Reis and Paul Walter Hauser.
The Resident Evil series has seen multiple adaptations, beginning with the Milla Jovovic-led films released between 2002 and 2016, and a 2021 reboot titled Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, which underperformed commercially and critically. A planned Netflix series was cancelled after one season in 2022.
Cregger addressed fan questions about the absence of well-known game characters and noted that test screenings prompted the removal of several jokes from the final cut. Early social-media feedback from the premiere has been largely favorable.
"We made some adjustments after test screenings, taking out a number of jokes," Creggar told The Hollywood Reporter.