The battle to reboot Capcom’s Resident Evil franchise for the big screen is over, and Sony has been crowned the victor. But while the ink may still be fresh on the deal, Sony’s wasting no time: it’s already confirmed its new Resident Evil movie hits cinemas on 18th September 2026.
Word of a Resident Evil movie reboot first surfaced back in January, with Zach Cregger – writer and director of 2022’s wonderfully unpredictable Barbarian – attached to the project. At the time, four studios – including Warners Bros. and Netflix – were reportedly vying for the rights to the lucrative franchise, but Sony (as relayed by Deadline) has now won out.
The kerfuffle for Resident Evil is perhaps not especially surprising given previous live-action movie adaptations collectively generated a staggering $1.2bn at the box office. And Sony’s interest is particularly not surprising, seeing as it was a major beneficiary of all that money under its previous deal to inflict Paul W. S. Anderson’s Resident Evil films upon the masses.
And this isn’t Sony’s first attempt at a reboot either. It also released 2021’s underwhelming Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City – but while the studio’s track record with the franchise isn’t exactly encouraging, there’s at least some reason to be optimistic. The fact Cregger is onboard to write and direct is an intriguing proposition, especially given his apparent keenness to keep his Resident Evil adaptation faithful to the games.
“I’ve been a rabid fan of these games for decades, and to be able to bring this amazing title to life is a true honor,” Cregger told Deadline following Sony’s win. Constantin Film is producing and co-financing the movie, with PlayStation Productions also on board.
Will Sony’s latest attempt at a reboot do justice to Capcom’s esteemed – and let’s be honest, utterly preposterous – survival horror series? With the next Resident Evil movie now pencilled in for a September 2026 release, we’ll know soon enough.
