Director Zach Cregger has revealed that Austin Abrams plays a new original character in his upcoming Resident Evil film, serving as an avatar for the average video game player. The movie, set in the world of Resident Evil 2 during Raccoon City's outbreak, premieres in theaters on September 18. Cregger emphasized creating a fresh story to avoid redundancy with the games.
Zach Cregger, the horror writer and director known for his work on the Resident Evil adaptation, explained his approach to introducing an original character to the franchise. In an interview with PlayStation, he said, “I wanted to tell a story that could take place in the Resident Evil world, but wasn’t telling a story that the games had already told.” He noted that retelling stories like Leon's from the games would feel redundant, as the games do them exceptionally well, and chose instead to craft a narrative on the sidelines of Resident Evil 2 events, with minor shifts for dramatic license. The film follows medical courier Bryan, played by Austin Abrams, who must survive a sudden outbreak while making a delivery in Raccoon City, encountering familiar game threats along the way from point A to point B. Cregger described Abrams' character as “very much like an avatar for me, or what I expect the average video game player would react if they were thrust into the game themselves.” He portrayed Bryan as a normal, good-natured, hapless guy—not skilled in combat, athletic but not an athlete—who gets pulled into a nightmare. “And so it was really fun to just think, how would I react authentically if I saw a mutant dog attack me? What would that gamut of emotion look like? And Austin’s just so fun to watch, he’s perfect for it,” Cregger added. Co-written with Shay Hatten, the project landed at Sony last March. The cast also includes Zach Cherry, Kali Reis, Paul Walter Hauser, and Johnno Wilson. Based on Capcom's 1996 video game, previous Resident Evil films since 2002 have grossed over $1.2 billion worldwide.
