James Wan is on board the Resident Evil reboot as a producer. He is set to produce Greg Russo’s script for the first reboot film. Deadline reports that it will have a whole new cast. Wan will be producing the first pic for Constatin Films and Screen Gems. Russo previously wrote Mortal Kombat and Wan is a horror legend, with Saw, The Conjuring, Annabelle, and Lights Out on his impressive resume. This might mean the Resident Evil films will double down on the horror elements.
The latest film, Resident EvilL The Final Chapter, was released earlier this year and earned $312.2 million. It debuted in China with $94.3 million, and earned $160 million. The Resident Evil franchise has earned $1.2 billion worldwide, and is the highest-grossing film series based on a video game. It also has the honour of being the second biggest horror franchise, behind the Alien movies.
It is also important to note that this franchise is one of the very few to star a woman as the lead. It will be interesting to see if Wan, Russo, and company keep Alice or move towards a new lead.
Wan has attached himself to a worthy project to play around with. He has certainly proved that horror and action is his sweet spot, as a producer he can make the Resident Evil reboot a force to be reckoned with.
Source: Deadline.