Barbarian director Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil movie gets a 2026 release date

In 2023, New Line Cinema went all-in on a partnership with Barbarian (watch it HERE) writer/director Zach Cregger and Barbarian’s producers at BoulderLight Pictures. New Line came out the winner in a bidding war over Weapons, which they’re planning to give a theatrical release date on January 16, 2026, and they’re also paying Cregger a sum in the eight figure range to make the movie. In addition to working with them on Weapons, New Line signed a first look deal with BoulderLight Pictures, tasking the company with developing high concept genre projects for them, and they gave a greenlight to the sci-fi thriller Companion, which was produced by BoulderLight and Cregger and released at the end of January. But while Cregger is collaborating with New Line Cinema, he’s also making a Resident Evil movie for Constantin Film – and while New Line’s parent company Warner Bros. participated in a bidding war over the chance to distribute the film, Sony Pictures, the company that released all of the previous Resident Evil movies, came out the winner of that bidding war. Deadline reports that Sony will be releasing Cregger’s Resident Evil movie on September 18, 2026.

So we’ll get to see two new Zach Cregger movies in 2026, just eight months apart.

Cregger will be directing the Resident Evil movie, and while details on the screenplay he has written with Shay Hatten (Army of the Dead) are being kept under wraps, the story apparently harkens back to the original Capcom game’s horror roots.

Constantin Film is producing and co-financing the film. Constantin’s Robert Kulzer, Vertigo Entertainment’s Roy Lee and Miri Yoon, and PlayStation Productions are also producing. Nicole Brown will be overseeing the project for Sony’s Columbia Pictures.

Cregger provided the following statement: “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.” Kulzer added, “The world of Resident Evil experienced through Zach’s vision is an irresistible feat.” And Sanford Panitch, President of Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, had this to say: “Zach is one of the most talented, exciting new directors to come on the scene in many years. His brilliant approach in restarting and refreshing this legendary Sony franchise instantly makes this one of our most important releases in 2026.“

Paul W.S. Anderson built a franchise of six Resident Evil movies, running from Resident Evil in 2002 to Resident Evil: The Final Chapter in 2017. In 2021, the franchise was rebooted with director Johannes Roberts’ Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City. A while back, we heard that a follow-up to Welcome to Raccoon City was in the works, as Raccoon HG Film Productions, the company that was behind that film, was said to be gearing up to go into production on a project called Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles (based on the 2002 video game Resident Evil Zero) in Greater Sudbury, a city in Ontario, Canada. That project didn’t make it into production, though.

What do you think of Zach Cregger making a Resident Evil movie? Are you looking forward to checking it out in 2026? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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