After six post-apocalyptic thrillers in only 10 years, writer-director Paul W.S. Anderson finally concluded his Resident Evil series with The Final Chapter, which was a fun enough outing, but also a fairly underwhelming finale to what was, on the whole, one of the more enjoyable action series of the past decade.
That was back in 2016, and in the years since, we’ve heard rumblings that a reboot was in the works. Granted, there hasn’t been much in the way of concrete updates lately, but while speaking with ScreenRant, 47 Meters Down director Johannes Roberts confirmed that he’s going to be heading up the project (as was rumored). In fact, according to the filmmaker, they’re now in active development and he promises that this new take on the property will be “super scary.”
“We are in active development of that at the moment” said Roberts. “I pitched them a take, and they really loved it. So, we are just gearing up on that as we speak, really. I’m in the office all the time there. So, yeah, it’s great. It’s gonna be super scary. It’s super, super scary. And it’s just getting back to the roots of the game. I think, at the moment, I’m not really allowed to say much more than that. But it’s gonna be a lot of fun.”
While Anderson’s movies were enjoyable enough, they were certainly lacking in the horror department. It was easy to get lost in the over the top action, but fans were always asking for more scares, so it’s nice to hear that Roberts hopes to deliver exactly that. Then again, it’s easy to promise one thing only to never make good on it, but when you consider some of the director’s past work, it’s not too difficult to imagine him being able to crank out a genuinely frightening Resident Evil movie.
Of course, casting and plot details still remain unclear at this early stage, but if what Roberts says is true, and they’re really gearing up and are indeed in active development, then it shouldn’t be too long before we learn more. As long as the team behind this new reboot stays true to the games though and doesn’t lean too heavily into the action like Anderson’s films did, then Resident Evil fans should find themselves pleased with the final product.