Resident Evil were the games that terrified us when we first sat down to play them when we were kids. Wondering what was inside the Spencer Mansion kept us on the edge of our seats and then venturing into the unknown of Raccoon City. The thrill of seeing our first undead zombie lurch towards filled us with terror, then came the first live-action film Resident Evil that was released in 2002. Its subsequent five sequels went further away from its source material and turned into something of an action movie rather than keeping the audience in suspense and offering up something that the fans wanted- scares.

The news of the reboot was first announced in 2017 with little news to report. Now, according to Deadline, the Resident Evil reboot is offical and Johannes Roberts (47 Meters Down & The Strangers: Prey at Night) has been assigned the director’s chair. “With this movie, I really wanted to go back to the original first two games and re-create the terrifying visceral experience I had when I first played them whilst at the same time telling a grounded human story about a small dying American town that feels both relatable and relevant to today’s audiences, said Roberts.

In terms of the plot, as we understand it, the film will take place in 1998 and explore the mysterious Spencer Mansion and the neighboring Raccoon City. Essentially an origin story and a clean slate to start with. Greg Russo, who wrote the screenplay for the upcoming Mortal Kombat reboot is writing the script for Resident Evil. Paul W.S. Anderson (long-time director of the Resident Evil movies) is not involved in this reboot. Some of the casting has been confirmed and some old favorites from the video games will be seen again. Here’s the list so far.

Kaya Scodelario- Claire Redfield

Robbie Amell- Chris Redfield

Hannah John-Kamen- Jill Valentine

Avan Jogia- Leon S. Kennedy

Neal McDonough- William Birkin

Tom Hopper- Albert Wesker

Constantin Films and Davis Films will be serving as executive producers. No release date has been confirmed but early news did mention a possible 2021 release but again nothing is confirmed at this point. While the previous six films starring Milla Jovovich grossed over $1.2 billion in worldwide box office sales, the news of this reboot does get us excited to see what happens next. For horror fans, this may be the next best thing. For fans of the video game franchise, we can only hope that this new team can do the franchise justice and deliver the scares, the horror and the atmopshere that made the games so memorable.

Stay tunes for futher updates as soon as we hear of them!