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The first teaser trailer for Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil adaptation, which debuted at Cinema Con last month, has been released online, and, while it doesn’t directly adapt any of the games, we think it looks pretty solid.
The film is said to take place on the outskirts of Raccoon City, parallel to the events of Resident Evil 2, and follows a medical courier played by Austin Abrams, best known for his role in Cregger’s last film, Weapons.
Although it had been stated previously that Cregger had been given carte blanche to do what he pleased with the IP, he still expected the franchise’s fans to be displeased with the decision not to adapt Leon’s story directly.
Speaking in a Q&A on the PlayStation blog, Cregger said: “So I wanted to tell a story that could take place in the Resident Evil world, but wasn’t telling a story that the games had already told.
“To me, I would feel like there’s kind of no winning there if I were to tell Leon’s story, because the games do such a great job. It would just be kind of redundant, and ultimately, I think, disappointing. So I would rather just kind of celebrate everything I love about the games by telling the story that could exist on the sidelines of one of the games.”
Resident Evil, which stars Austin Abrams, Zach Cherry, Kali Reis, and Paul Walter Hauser, releases in cinemas on September 17, 2026.
