The first footage has just been released for Resident Evil, a new live-action series at Netflix based on the popular video game. This series is separate from both the prior films by Paul W.S. Anderson as well as last year's Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, imagining a new take on the story with Lance Reddick as Albert Wesker. You can see the first footage of the series below to get an idea of what it will be like.
This series includes Wesker, a major character form the games, but it's otherwise telling the Resident Evil story from a new perspective. The trailer showcases two separate timelines, which could be seen last the "before" and the "after." Wesker can be seen performing experiments with the T-Virus, and as we know, that can only end up with a deadly viral outbreak. Other scenes will be told in the future after the planet has been ravaged by zombies, as Wesker's daughters must try to survive in the world their father helped to create.
You can read the official synopsis for Netflix's Resident Evil below.
"Year 2036 – 14 years after Joy caused so much pain, Jade Wesker fights for survival in a world overrun by the blood-thirsty infected and mind-shattering creatures. In this absolute carnage, Jade is haunted by her past in New Raccoon City, by her father’s chilling connections to the sinister Umbrella Corporation but mostly by what happened to her sister, Billie."
Resident Evil stars Lance Reddick, Ella Balinska, Tamara Smart, Siena Agudong, Adeline Rudolph, Paola Nunez, Ahad Raza Mir, Connor Gassatti, and Turlough Convery. Andrew Dabb (Supernatural) serves as showrunner and wrote the series with Mary Leah Sutton. Dabb and Sutton executive produced with Robert Kulzer and Olver Berben of Constantin Film.
Resident Evil Comes to Netflix in July
The Resident Evil brand has proven to be popular in multiple mediums. After finding great success as a video game series, Paul W.S. Anderson released a series a live-action movies with Milla Jovovich in the starring role all throughout. While hardcore fans of the games have lamented the creative changes from the source material, the films were highly successful at the box office. That's why it wasn't long before Sony opted to reboot the series with last year's Welcome to Raccoon City when Anderson and Jovovich concluded their films' run.
Unfortunately, Welcome to Raccoon City came up short when it hit theaters last year. Written and directed by Johannes Roberts, the film was much more faithful to the game series, adapting many familiar elements from the original two titles. It was a modest success at the box office, though it fell short of expectations. Critical reception was much worse, giving the film a 31% rotten rating at Rotten Tomatoes. There haven't been any announcements made as to whether Sony wants to give this one a sequel, likely due to the lukewarm reception of its release.
We will see how the fans respond to the next adaptation this summer. Netflix's Resident Evil series will start streaming on July 14, 2022. Keep updated on the film by following Resident Evil on Instagram.