Sony PicturesNot so long ago, video game adaptations were treated as a novelty that meant certain doom for whichever studio decided to greenlight one. Before Mortal Kombat 2 or Markiplier’s Iron Lung, video game movies frequently looked like 2005’s Doom or 2009’s Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li — cash-grab attempts at using a property with a built-in fanbase to court box office success. The results were often dire, but those early works did pave the way for the genre’s current renaissance, where both direct adaptations and stories set in the world of popular games can thrive.Of that older era, one of the most surprising successes was Paul W.S. Anderson’s adaptation of Resident Evil, which sired a six-movie franchise despite veering wildly away from the games’ tone and story. A 2021 reboot, Welcome to Raccoon City, put forth a valiant effort and managed to be a fun action-horror, but lacked the games’ chilling, dread-inducing atmosphere. Now there’s a third try on the way, this time from horror darling Zach Cregger, and while it’s also opting to go with its own story, it certainly looks more in line with the desperate, survival horror energy of the source material.The first official trailer for Cregger’s upcoming Resident Evil just dropped, and while it’s smartly keeping the actual plot close to the chest, it does provide a longer look at some of the nightmarish shenanigans Austin Abrams’ aloof protagonist, Bryan, ends up in. After agreeing to one last drop-off to Raccoon City General before the end of his delivery shift, Bryan accidentally runs down a woman in his car... and when he stops at a nearby house for help, he spots the same woman trudging through the snow in a very inhuman fashion. The rest of the trailer shows Brian desperately trying to find ammo for the shotgun he finds, intercut with footage playfully teasing the carnage waiting for Bryan across Raccoon City.There’s been a decent amount of negative criticism towards the movie from some fans because of a lack of recognizable characters, but it’s clear that Cregger is familiar with the gameplay mechanics and overall mood of a Resident Evil game. Ammunition management is such a crucial part of many titles, as the only thing more nerve-wracking than walking around with an empty firearm is finally finding a box of ammo and realizing it means there’s something terrifying waiting for you around the corner. The trailer is also filled with Easter eggs, like the typewriter used to save progress or the recognizable Heavy Field brand of shotgun shells Bryan arms himself with.Cregger has said his intention was to make a movie about an average Joe in a survival horror situation, and it seems he’s succeeded. | Sony PicturesBeyond just the familiarity of certain imagery, Resident Evil feels cut from the same suffocating cloth as its source material. Even just watching Bryan stalk through an empty house conjures up the dread that comes with exploring the Spencer Mansion, not knowing exactly what’s lurking behind the door you need to go through. There’s a reason gamers get apprehensive when adaptations offer up an original story; countless lousy game movies from the ‘90s and early 2000s thought they were smarter than the properties they were adapting. But with every new bit of information, it seems like Zach Cregger is using his original premise to write a love letter to the exhilarating, anxiety-inducing experience of playing a Resident Evil game. Hopefully, when it arrives in September, it delivers a terrifying journey that honors the franchise’s 30-year legacy.Resident Evil hits theaters on September 18, 2026.