Barbarian director Zach Cregger to helm the next Resident Evil movie?

Last year, New Line Cinema went all-in on a partnership with Barbarian (watch it HERE) writer/director Zach Cregger and Barbarian’s producers at BoulderLight Pictures. New Line came out the winner in a bidding war over Weapons, which they’re planning to give a theatrical release date on January 16, 2026, and they’re also paying Cregger a sum in the eight figure range to make the movie. In addition to working with them on Weapons, New Line signed a first look deal with BoulderLight Pictures, tasking the company with developing high concept genre projects for them, and they gave a greenlight to the sci-fi thriller Companion, produced by BoulderLight and Cregger. That film will be reaching theatres a full year ahead of Weapons… But while Cregger is collaborating with New Line Cinema, he’s also being courted by Sony Pictures. Industry scooper Jeff Sneider reports that Sony was hoping Cregger would direct a reboot of Clue for them – but he passed on that offer. Now, Cregger and Sony are discussing the possibility of him directing the next Resident Evil movie for them.

Paul W.S. Anderson built a franchise of six Resident Evil movies, running from Resident Evil in 2002 to Resident Evil: The Final Chapter in 2017. In 2021, the franchise was rebooted with director Johannes Roberts’ Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City. Last year, we heard that a follow-up to Welcome to Raccoon City was in the works, as Raccoon HG Film Productions, the company that was behind that film, was said to be gearing up to go into production on a project called Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles (based on the 2002 video game Resident Evil Zero) in Greater Sudbury, a city in Ontario, Canada. That project doesn’t seem to have ever started filming, though.

A Production Weekly listing offered the following SPOILER-filled synopsis for Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles: STARS operative Rebecca Chambers and former Marine Billy Coen venture through a train that eventually takes them into a derelict training facility. Once within the facility, they discover they are being stalked by James Marcus, a co-founder of the Umbrella Corporation and creator of the T-Virus, who has managed to resurrect himself with the aid of leech test subjects. After a confrontation, Marcus mutates into a monstrosity, but is subdued by the duo. Chambers and Coen escape as the facility self-destructs.

Anderson was said to be earning a producing credit on Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, along with Jeremy Bolt, Victor Hadida, Robert Kulzer, Martin Moszkowicz, Alex Zhang, and James Harris. They were all producers on Welcome to Raccoon City as well.

If Sneider is correct and Cregger is indeed in talks with Sony to direct the next Resident Evil movie, it’s not clear if they’re looking to have him direct Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles or if the project would start over from scratch.

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