Official Trailer for Zach Cregger's Resident Evil is Pure Fandom

If for some reason you haven't come across this yet, Zach Cregger, the director of Weapons and Barbarian, at some point asked himself what it would be like to be an average Joe during the T-Virus outbreak in the Resident Evil timeline. Someone at Columbia Pictures heard him ask that question, gave him a budget and a greenlight and now we have what is looking like the most authentic Resident Evil big screen experience yet, and it won't star the likes of Leon, Claire or Chris, just a hapless medical courier named Bryan (Austin Abram) who must face the impossible.

Take a gander:

Cregger has reiterated throughout the lead up to the film's release that this is a survival horror movie where the stakes are continuously high but where Bryan, being something of a nobody, has to meet those stakes head on. As a result, the cadence of the film will see him 'level-up', for lack of a better description, where he'll get increasingly more powerful weapons, become more aware of his environment and even feel empowered. 

However, just like the games, as Bryan does go through his zero-to-hero metamorphosis, so too will the dangers become more difficult, horrific and large.

This take on the IP, which is effectively canonical as it takes place on 'outbreak day' and is set in Raccoon City, is still a side-story and so will still feature plenty of nods to the game, right down to the brand of shotgun shells seen in the trailer above, which are lifted directly from Capcom's asset library. And there's something especially cool about not having a trained S.T.A.R.S. agent, or a rookie cop with gusto as our main protagonist. In effect, Bryan is simply us, the player, as if we were dropped into the world of Resident Evil and forced to survive.

It's a cool take and one that could translate in other videogame worlds, meaning Cregger's take might also be just the beginning of a new flood of ideas.

Resident Evil will be in cinemas in Australia from September 17.