Resident Evil is back in Sony’s hands.
The studio has won a hotly contested bidding war to nab not only the rights to the horror action movie franchise based on the popular video games, but also for the opportunity to work with hot filmmaker Zach Cregger. The studio has set a release date of Sept. 18, 2026 for the project.
Cregger, the writer-director behind acclaimed horror movie Barbarian and the upcoming ensemble piece Weapons, is attached to write and direct.
The franchise, which had called Sony label Screen Gems home since releasing the first movie in 2002, found itself in a unique position of being up for grabs in January, inciting an intense bidding war. In the end, Sony prevailed, this time via its Columbia Pictures banner, allowing for a bigger budget.
Constantin Film, which has held the screen rights to the title since the late 1990s and has been behind the previous movies, will produce the reboot along with PlayStation Productions. Shay Hatten, who worked on John Wick: Chapter 4 and Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead, is co-writing.
The previous movies, six starring Milla Jovovich plus one origin feature made during the pandemic, have been moneymakers. But it’s the involvement of Cregger that sent bidders into a frenzy and injected a jolt into what was considered a dehydrated property.
Barbarian established Cregger as a new voice in horror, and when he went out with his follow-up horror project, a bidding war erupted. That upcoming film, titled Weapons, was won by Warners’ New Line division and saw him become a final cut director. Weapons is due to hit theatres in January 2026.
Resident Evil is moving fast and meant to be Cregger’s next project. Sources say Sony and Constantin’s goal is to be shooting by summer.
