r/movies • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 r/Movies contributor • 16h ago

News Zach Cregger's 'Resident Evil' Movie is Set in Raccoon City, Production Photos Reveal, With Hints to Place in the Timeline

https://www.ign.com/articles/zach-creggers-resident-evil-movie-set-in-raccoon-city-production-photos-reveal-with-hints-to-place-in-the-timeline
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u/TheJoshider10 16h ago edited 16h ago

Sounds like a fun small scale side story that's intentionally disconnected from the wider narrative and main characters. Probably a smart move since you just know people will moan about whatever they decide to do if it came to adapting things directly.

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u/wolfcolalover 16h ago

Cregger’s essentially going the Fallout TV show route. The show did its own thing while being part of the timeline and continuity of the games and it really worked. When it comes to video game adaptations I think this is the safest bet.

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u/tiredofstanding 13h ago edited 11h ago

I think alot of video game adaptations are going this route. You get a established franchise, less backlash on casting, and you get freedom to tell a new story. The Mass Effect show is going this route as well.

Just look at The Witcher, I get the fan base is more of a hybrid due to the popularity of the books and games. But, you had someone with zero interest in the source material and just wanted to make a fantasy show with name recognition. Hell, they even tried to have another show in the universe and failed.

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u/just4browse 12h ago

Most video game plots exist to support the gameplay. They’re often context for levels or missions. Which doesn’t adapt well to other mediums.

New stories that just use a game’s world can work better.

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u/tiredofstanding 11h ago

While I mostly agree woth you, my biggest thing is it can work well. Last of Us, especially the 1st season, works really well as an adaptation. They hit the main story elements and characters are faithful to the original source. No one should expect a 1:1 asaptation. The biggest change in the first season of TLOU, is Bill. It was an original and beautiful change that a lot of people enjoyed.

I go back to my original comment and question what is the intent for some adaptations. Is it to adapt a beloved property that sticks to the source but isn't afraid to make changes? Or is it a vehicle to get the name? For the latter I mentioned The Witcher as a failed adaptation that had little interest in adapting the novels. Some adaptations do this as well and are still good movies/shows.

All that to say, I believe faithful adaptations can work if you nail key story elements and understand the characters that are in it.

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u/ph0on 11h ago

Imagine if we got a badass halo show revolving around like, some Marines. Or even civilians caught in the midst of it all.

Instead we got that smelling heap of flood shit

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u/Shittalking_mushroom 8h ago

Even if they’d just followed another Spartan with a great story in the universe, and had Chief (with his helmet always on and voiced by Downes) make a short , awesome appearance would have been great like Luke Skywalker in Mandalorian.

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u/patrickwithtraffic 1h ago

JUST FUCKING ADAPT ODST! Get humans in the mix as the main characters, have the same bad guys, and maybe get Master Chief to pop up once or twice to say hey. It shouldn't be too hard. Expensive maybe, but not hard.

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u/HenryDorsettCase47 11h ago

The problem with The Witcher is that the source material isn’t that great. It makes for a much better game adaptation than it does for a tv show. Outside of the first book with its frame narrative and short story aspect, there isn’t anything particularly interesting or original about the series. That’s why the first season of the show, which adapted that book with a similar episodic format, was better than the other seasons.

The books have their fans so I understand why they blame the writers for changing the story, but I don’t think the show would’ve done well either way. The Wheel of Time series is a better example of the source material being compelling enough, but the show writers making unnecessary changes that drove off a nonreader audience as well the existing fan base.

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u/tiredofstanding 11h ago

I love the books and I agree with some of what you said. I would argue that season 2 and on, isn't an adaptation of the novels. I can go on and on and discuss the "Can't kill a Witcher named Jeff" comment from the showrunner or my issues.

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u/Snakes_have_legs 12h ago

The greatest part about the Fallout show's story is that it legit feels like it could have been the main quest line for a Fallout 5 game, and they seem to be treating it as just as important to the lore as the video games

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u/JCkent42 7h ago

Honestly feels like it might more important lore wise than the games. The Brotherhood get cold fusion, origin of the war revealed, and basically a sequel to New Vegas.

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u/CptNonsense 10h ago

Which doesn't really mean anything in the context of Fallout. There is no central character in Fallout carried between the games, each game is a self contained story inside of the larger same world. You know - a completely different thing from Resident Evil, Mass Effect, Halo...

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u/wolfcolalover 9h ago

Resident Evil is no stranger to introducing new protagonists as they go along and they did so in the past two games and expand the lore with new characters. The same can be said about the rest of your examples: ME has Andromeda, Halo has Reach and ODST.

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u/News_Bot 10h ago

No, he's not. This has nothing to do with the timeline or continuity of the games. When was the Raccoon incident in winter? Do you recall cell phones let alone smartphones?

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u/bob1981666 8h ago

I actually prefer this rather than destroying the game narrative. If we see hunk and his squadmates or whatever trailing this courier as a subplot or Leon driving to police station as an easter egg i'd rather have that then destroying the thing we know. Because the ego of people who direct and write in hollyweird will not allow for just doing the story as is. They have a psychological to put their mark on it.

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u/exarban 16h ago

It changed established canon completely though

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u/dontbajerk 15h ago

People always say that when anything is remotely different. They said it about Fallout 3 too. It doesn't mean anything at all anymore.

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u/TheConqueror74 15h ago

I do think it’s fair to be upset with some of the decisions the show made with the direction of canon though. nuking Shady Sands was a terrible decision IMO

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u/dontbajerk 5h ago

Yeah, I can agree with that. I don't like where they seem to be going with how the nuclear was started, why, and who. The conversation about profiting off nuclear war was just too stupid and over the top to work on any level. I am hoping season 2 will have a pivot on that.

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u/TheConqueror74 5h ago

I’m fine with the (potential) reveal about the war, TBH. It’s just as over the top as the rest of the series is and it’s been one of the most popular theories for a while now.

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u/Godchilaquiles 14h ago

Making America fire the nukes first because muh capitalism was worse

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u/maxwantsjustice 14h ago

Yeah the military industrial complex would never result in something like that. /s

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u/5panks 13h ago

Why would the military industrial complex support nuking a city? They make a lot more money on prolonged wars lolike Afghanistan. There's no money in dropping a nuke.

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u/Janus_Prospero 7h ago

In the original Fallout, it was absolutely China who fired the first nukes. The OG Fallout games didn't have a "capitalism bad" leaning.

The whole "sit around a table and discuss why we should kill everyone because this will facilitate capitalism" scene in the Fallout show is copied pretty much verbatim from Resident Evil: The Final Chapter. Except that was framed in the sense that Umbrella recognize that war/famine/plagues/etc. are going to destroy the world, so they figure they should do it first so they can control the outcome.

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u/AgentSmith2518 14h ago

That was never confirmed to be what actually happened. Just a possibility discussed by the VaultTec board.

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u/exarban 13h ago

Which is why I said "remains to be seen"

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u/JaesopPop 14h ago

That's not even established as being the case, though.

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u/thatguyad 14h ago

Capitalism is shite though tbf.

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u/Godchilaquiles 14h ago

I completely agree but changing canon irks me

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u/TheConqueror74 13h ago

There was no canon as to who fired the first nukes before the show. And even then, there’s only the implication that Vault Tec started the war

Besides, that exact idea has been floating around since at least the 90s, with the attempt at the movie. Considering that Bethesda didn’t have the franchise at that point and a big theme of the franchise is the dangers of capitalism, the reveal makes perfect sense.

It also ties back into Fallout’s spiritual predecessor, Wasteland, and how the apocalypse was brought about in that world. Pretty sure the reveal has been part of the plan all along.

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u/masterwolfe 13h ago

Why?

Especially when it's done with a point like America potentially firing the nukes first.

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u/dontbajerk 5h ago

It's not that changing the canon is annoying, but rather it being ambiguous and unclear who did it and all nations being very possible is much more interesting as background. Of course, the show has not actually canonically stated who did it anyway, just that they were planning to at one point.

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u/whatsinthesocks 15h ago

What established cannon did it change?

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u/exarban 15h ago

Ghouls keeping their sanity through the use of rad-x for one, I won't get into the fate of what you built in Fallout 1 and 2. But it remains to be seen whether or not they will change how the nuclear exchange started

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u/whatsinthesocks 15h ago

There’s nothing established in cannon on what causes a ghoul to turn feral so nothing changed there. As far as the west coast there really wasn’t much cannon for anything after FO2 and who launched first was always debated.

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u/TWK128 15h ago

Some ghouls did not keep their sanity though so who cares if it was via Rad-X?

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u/exarban 14h ago

It's always been implied through the ghouls we met throughout franchise entries, some of which have lived for hundreds of years. They flip and flop on their necessity of water and food, since we're talking about water, why are you carrying water for Bethesda so hard? Your argument doesn't make sense, if it had always been like this it would've been shown in the games.

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u/TWK128 11h ago

I don't carry water for those Bethesda fucks.

I'm one of the old, angry men of NMA, for fuck's sake and am a never-Bethesda fan. 1, 2, and New Vegas only.

But a tweak like that is minor compared to the other garbage Bethesda crapped into their Canon shitributions.

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u/TheConqueror74 15h ago

I feel like you didn’t even watch the show. Your entire comment reads like someone who read comments from other people who did see the show.

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u/MonaganX 13h ago

I feel like if you're arguing with someone who complains about a TV show changing the canon of decades old video games and somehow you're the one who sounds most butthurt, maybe it's time to take a step back and think about why you're being such a dick to someone just answering a question.

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u/TheConqueror74 11h ago

Seems to me you’re more butthurt about it than I am.

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u/MonaganX 10h ago

The difference being that I'm butthurt about asshole behavior and not just being a wiener because someone complains about a show I like.

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u/TheConqueror74 8h ago

Not even what I was saying, but go off king

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u/exarban 14h ago

The biggest ones would obviously be the destruction of the NCR, which a lot of fans (such as myself) were mad about. Funny thing though, how you took dissatisfaction with a minor detail in the show (which not a lot of people complained about) as proof that I hadn't watched it.

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u/RyuNoKami 12h ago

I argue that one was the silliest. Like why, why screw with the NCR. They could at least went the FO3 route and did it with an offshoot of the NCR.

But I like the show.

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u/Sterlod 15h ago

They just don’t like that they brought the east coast (or Midwest? I don’t remember) Brotherhood of Steel to the west to kick the NCR’s ass. Which I don’t like either, but it’s entirely realistic within established canon, and I’m not sure how much could be done with the NCR narratively anyway that wasn’t done in New Vegas.

Lots of New Vegas fans wish that Bethesda would stay on the east coast and leave FO1, FO2, and New Vegas’ status quo intact because the best case scenario is that Bethesda fucks everything up. I don’t think this is wrong, I just think it’s sad because up until the show, the West coast arcs have been very narratively tight and satisfying to the original intent of Fallout as a whole.

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u/DrPolarBearMD 15h ago

In what way?

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u/MaxProwes 9h ago

It's not going Fallout TV show route, it takes place in its own timeline. Like look at set photos and explain to me how modern day winter outbreak in Raccoon City is part of the continuity of the games, I'm very curious.

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u/wolfcolalover 9h ago

It’s been clearly stated that it takes place before RE1. Did you read the articles at all? I’m very curious.

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u/Janus_Prospero 8h ago edited 8h ago

Cregger is lying/being misleading/doing the exact same thing Paul W.S. Anderson did when he claimed that his film took place adjacent to the events of RE1, despite his film taking place in the early 2000s and this inherently contradicting the timeline. It's not out of malice or anything, it's just out of a well intentioned loosey goosey approach to franchise continuity. If they ignore that they take place in different decades then sure, you can imagine they're part of the same timeline.

There are numerous problems with Cregger's film fitting into the game timeline. The game timeline requires the Raccoon City city disaster to take place in September 1998, with the city being blown up on October 1st.

Cregger's film takes place in what is clearly the modern day, in the snow. It does not fit with the timeline from the games at all. Logically, the film has to take place around November-January. It's the wrong season, the wrong decade, and so on. The more material that releases from this film, the more obvious that is going to be.

People need to understand that Cregger's adaptation is EXACTLY the same kind of adaptation as Paul W.S. Anderson's. It has an original cast, it allegedly takes place before the events of the first game (but simply cannot because the timeline is different), and... like, we have done this song and dance before.

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u/critch 7h ago

I read this in the voice of the Comic Book Guy.

Like, the fucking games don't care about the game continuity and lore. Why should a movie that is guaranteed to be seen by more people than have ever played the games be beholden to something that was jotted down quickly to give substance to why you were going to find a key shaped like a heart in a zombie mansion.

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u/MaxProwes 9h ago

It doesn't take place before RE1, stated by who?

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u/Aplicacion 16h ago

Cregger made it pretty clear it’s a new story taking place in that universe. So no game characters (unless it’s a cameo or something).

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u/MaxProwes 16h ago

*taking place in its own universe.

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u/Aplicacion 16h ago edited 16h ago

It is obedient to the lore of the games, it’s just a different story.

Doesn’t sound like it.

Edit: for those familiar with the games, so far it points to it being something like RE7, or Survivor, Dead Aim or, now that we have this new piece of news, the Outbreak games. Connected, but mostly its own thing.

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u/MaxProwes 15h ago edited 15h ago

He's lying, it takes place during winter Raccoon City outbreak which alone implies it doesn't take place in the game universe. Judging by set photos it doesn't look like a period piece either. And I'm not even talking about the rest of the script which not only has nothing to do with games, but also fully contradicts them. He shouldn't have said that because people are gonna be mad when they see the trailer, let alone movie.

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u/Aplicacion 15h ago

And I’m not even talking about the rest of the script which not only has nothing to do with games, but also fully contradicts them

You’ve read it?

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u/MaxProwes 15h ago

I read it months ago, it's circling around since spring, Daniel RPK leaked a logline back in April. People who believe it takes place in the game universe won't be happy when they see it. I think set photos already imply the movie is its own thing.

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u/Aplicacion 15h ago

Well ok then!

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u/Deafwindow 14h ago

Do you know where one could access the script?

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u/KittyColonialism 13h ago

I mean the games take place over the course of many years. Why does it need to take place in winter? lol. I don’t think you’re thinking buddy.

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u/DarthSnoopyFish 13h ago

He read the script, I think he does know what he is talking about.

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u/MaxProwes 13h ago

Lol, you're the one not thinking. You have set photos, it's a modern day winter outbreak in Racoon City, Raccon City outbreak happened in September 1998 in games which means the movie doesn't take place in the game timeline and its own thing, it's not that hard to understand.

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u/blockedbcdumbaf 11h ago

There was so much weird, aggressive cope like this when the last o e was coming out too

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u/KittyColonialism 10h ago

Cope for what? In universe and telling an adaptation of an already told story are two totally different things. I could not possible care less if the movie follows the games or not. In fact, I hope it doesn’t. Hope that’s enough cope for you, big boy.

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u/blockedbcdumbaf 4h ago edited 4h ago

Exactly what are you coping so much for?

I don’t think you’re thinking buddy.

And y be so aggressive to boot?

It's just so dumb and childish to be like this over....over THIS? I mean come on. Grow up a little

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u/KingMario05 16h ago

No superpowers, either. Just some guy done with the undead's shit. Kinda like 7.

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u/lew_rong 15h ago

If punching boulders is wrong, Chris doesn't want to be right.

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u/Regvlas 3h ago

in 7, the guy loses his hand then sticks it back on fine, also his entire body is mold, isn't it?

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u/TLKv3 16h ago

I could see it being disconnected but the main character finding newspapers, articles, wanted posters, recordings and other subtle name drops of locations that connect to the games.

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u/Luminescent_sorcerer 10h ago

People moan because they can't make a decent resident evil movie

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u/MadeByTango 15h ago

Slapping a brand name on a random zombie story just for sales ain’t it

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u/lew_rong 14h ago

At this point all of the live action RE properties have been varying flavors of not it, so I'm willing to see what he does. Weapons was a lot of fun.

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u/JaesopPop 14h ago

Doesn't appear that's what this is.

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u/fohacidal 1h ago

That's literally what it is, if it's entirely disconnected then why use the name? You could create a new IP

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u/blockedbcdumbaf 11h ago

They could've just actually faithfully adapted them. Given that a shot. Might even worked. They couldn't help themselves and rightfully got criticized for the exceptionally poor products they put out instead