Barbarian director Zach Cregger's next project as part of his current deal with New Line Cinema is Weapons, which is now in production and is set to hit theaters in early 2026. However, it seems the highly in-demand filmmaker is also being courted by Sony Pictures.
Industry insider Jeff Sneider recently reported that Cregger was set to helm a Clue reboot for the studio, but later updated his story to say that he had decided to pass on the project and was now in talks to direct a new Resident Evil movie.
The last Resident Evil feature was Johannes Roberts' (47 Meters Down, The Strangers: Prey at Night) Welcome to Racoon City starring Kaya Scodelario (Crawl) as Claire Redfield, Hannah John-Kamen (Ant-Man and the Wasp) as Jill Valentine, and Robbie Amell (Upload) as Chris Redfield. It was not well-received by fans or critics.
More recently, a live-action Resident Evil series starring the late Lance Reddick (John Wick, The Wire) as Albert Wesker was released on Netflix, and that was met with an even worse reception.
Details on the movie Cregger would direct are non-existent, but last year, a rumor did the rounds that a follow-up to Welcome To Raccoon City was in development. The project was said to be titled Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, and loosely based on the Resident Evil Zero video game.
Here's an excerpt from the Production Weekly report.
"STARS operative Rebecca Chambers and former Marine Billy Coen venture through a train that eventually takes them into a derelict training facility. Once within the facility, they discover they are being stalked by James Marcus, a co-founder of the Umbrella Corporation and creator of the T-Virus, who has managed to resurrect himself with the aid of leech test subjects. After a confrontation, Marcus mutates into a monstrosity, but is subdued by the duo. Chambers and Coen escape as the facility self-destructs."
We haven't had any updates on The Umbrella Chronicles since, so while Cregger's film might well be the same project, it could just as easily be a brand-new concept.
What do you make of this rumor? Let us know in the comments section down below.
"Welcome to Raccoon City, once the booming home of pharmaceutical giant Umbrella Corp. The company's exodus left the city a wasteland, a dying town with great evil brewing below the surface. When that evil is unleashed, a group of survivors must work together to uncover the truth behind Umbrella and make it through the night."