‘Resident Evil’ Duo Zach Cregger & Austin Abrams Tease The Film’s Last 30 Seconds, Tricky Camerawork & Potential Fan Favorite Set Pieces

It may be “no sweat” for Austin Abrams’ character Bryan in the latest trailer for Resident Evil, but for writer-director and horror aficionado Zach Cregger his upcoming adaptation is all blood, all guts and all gorey. Co-written with Shay Hatten, Sony’s Resident Evil follows Bryan, a medical courier tasked with delivering an important package to the infamous in-game dwellings of Raccoon City. However, when Bryan arrives, he finds himself in a nonstop race for survival as the treacherous night unfolds around him. The film marks the latest big-screen adaptation of Resident Evil, the popular horror video game series from Capcom, which also doubles as one of the highest-grossing video game franchises ever. While attending the Resident Evil x Discord Fan Event at Comic-Con celebrating the film’s impending September 18 release, Cregger and Abrams spoke to Deadline about the intimate fan-loving details that went into bringing the horror game to life. Watch on Deadline DEADLINE: What about Zach Cregger made you want to open yourself up to the large, passionate Resident Evil fanbase with this film? AUSTIN ABRAMS: For me, it was Zach doing his own thing with this series. I just loved working with him so much. I knew that even though it was Resident Evil, I was excited and not nervous because he loved Resident Evil. He’s played so much of it that I felt I can really trust him. It was very much about trusting him and being like, “Let’s do fucking whatever, let’s make some shit.” DEADLINE: What kind of fears is Bryan experiencing? In the latest trailer, he seems to be having some relationship troubles. What kind of things did you keep in mind while playing this character? ABRAMS: Yeah, he is dealing with relationship troubles and then that’s juxtaposed with then immediately having to survive and fight for his life, which I think makes him have to look at what he’s so afraid of in his regular day and in his relationship with fresh eyes. ZACH CREGGER: I think of Brian as someone who is just starting his adult life. He has a job, but not a career. He’s got a relationship that he really loves, but there’s like a crisis in that relationship and he feels like he’s in a horror movie of his own when we start. His girlfriend is pregnant, he’s not ready. He’s thinking what is my life going to be? And he feels like he’s in his own little horror movie and then all of a sudden a real horror movie interrupts him and it puts all of that into perspective. DEADLINE: What was the non-negotiable essential to preserving the taste of the Resident Evil franchise in the film? CREGGER:Well, there’s a couple of things you have to have. First, you have the source of all the chaos of the T-virus, which is the thing that was developed by the Umbrella corporation. If you don’t do that, for me, it’s not Resident Evil. I feel like setting it in Raccoon City on the eve of the viral outbreak felt like,OK that’s me laying the table. But to me, the most important thing to make it a Resident Evil story is the tone and the rhythm. It’s like this kind of slow progression deeper and deeper into hell. And in the first act of the movie, he’s creeping into darkness and then at a certain point he’s running for his life. It sounds like an action movie, but it’s not. Resident Evil is a survival horror, not a survival action. He’s not a badass going around and karate kicking these zombies. It’s more intense, grounded dread, tone and atmosphere. One of the things those games do so well is that they lay out such a distinct and effective atmosphere. And so I feel like to me, what makes this a real love letter to those games is I’m trying to replicate that experience of feeling dread and tension. DEADLINE: Now Zach, this movie is only 95 minutes. You didn’t want to make a longer movie or more movies? CREGGER: I think movies are too long, dude. I’ve got a dog at home and if I go to a movie, I sit through a half hour of trailers and then the movie, and I’m driving back home. I’m half-joking, but I think it was just a challenge to tell a really efficient story without any extra calories. I wanted to be lean and mean and tight. DEADLINE: Were there fan favorites like Lady Dimitrescu or Wesker or other easter eggs that landed on the cutting room floor as a result of the tightness? CREGGER: I intentionally didn’t want to put any of the characters in the games into the movie because what I don’t want to do is cannibalize all these things that the games do so well. It’s kind of like when you read your favorite book and then you realize they’re going to turn it into a movie and then they cast someone you don’t agree with and you’re just like, it hurts. I love those games. I don’t want to step on their toes. I want to celebrate those games and I want to make something that other people who love the games like me are going to recognize as Resident Evil. But I certainly don’t think I’m going to do a better job of representing someone like Leon than the Games. DEADLINE: Was there a particular shot or set piece that made you really feel like, “Oh yeah, this is the movie I want to make and what I want audiences to see.” CREGGER: The Jump Street sequence that’s in the trailer where he’s running down the street and these zombies are leaping off the buildings while things are exploding all around him — we did it practically and it was super intense. I was really proud of what we did there. ABRAMS: That one for me too. CREGGER: But then, there’s also the first half hour. It’s short like one big long scene in a way that I think works so well. Then the last 30 seconds of the movie to me are so… I’m very proud of the last 30 seconds. So when I watch that, when the movie ends, I’m always really happy. DEADLINE: Resident Evil is known for resource management and making impossible choices. Were there any filmmaking choices that mirrored this dynamic? CREGGER: Well, resource management is every movie ever made. We have almost enough to do what we want. How do we make it work? So yeah, every scene, you’re kind of like, “How is this possible?” But impossible choices, no. I mean, no, you kind of have to just decide what you’re going to do and lock in and make it happen. DEADLINE: In bringing this game to life, were there any moments for you as an actor that really made you break a sweat? ABRAMS: We were doing a lot of camera work. It was a real dance with the camera. James [Van Der Reyden], our camera operator had to be really precise and I had to be really precise to his shots and come around to the camera at the same time. It was about forming a language. CREGGER: Yeah. The reason for that is because in the video games, you’re following your avatar [because it’s a third-person game], so when you look left the camera swings left, and when you look right the camera swings to look right. I wanted to do that also with the movie, which means Austin and James have to be in lockstep. When he goes up the stairs, we look at the stairs, in the kitchen, we look at the kitchen and then back to another thing. So that was fun to dial in and I think it works well. DEADLINE: Are there any easter egg references that you’re especially excited for longtime fans to see come to life? I know in the trailer there were some herbs and a typewriter… CREGGER: Yes, there’s a lot of objects directly from the game, like the ones you mentioned. And locks and padlocks play a big role in the movie. He’s constantly getting stopped by locks, which is a thing in the games. I think that’s the thing that fans are going to recognize beyond overt one for one references is the flow of the movie is the same as the flow of the game. You’re moving from one set piece to set piece. And each set piece contains its own unique threat. And I think that’s what the games do well. It’s a naturally cinematic rhythm. So it was fun to port the DNA of the games in terms of their story, pacing and into the movie.