Constantin Films and Sony Pictures are progressing fast in the development of the recently confirmed Resident Evil movie reboot. Today Deadline reports that the German production company has reached a deal with James Wan, director of horror films The Conjuring and Insidious and producer of Lights Out, Annabelle or the Saw series, to act as a producer on the first entry of this new movie adaptation of Capcom’s iconic horror series.
The involvement of Wan seems to point out that the new films will be more oriented to the horror genre rather than the action-heavy productions starred by Milla Jovovich. The script of the reboot will be written by Greg Russo, who has also collaborated with Wan in the development of the new Mortal Kombat film, which is also rebooting the series. Wan is currently directing the upcoming Aquaman film for Warner and DC.
James Wan has only signed to produce the first of a new series of six films that would renew the movie series. The previous incarnation of the Resident Evil films starred Milla Jovovich as Alice, a former employee of Umbrella who was subject to numerous experiments by the evil corporation. The six films of the series have grossed more than $1 billion at the global box office, despite not getting an unanimous acclaim by the fanbase.
Paul W. S. Anderson, who wrote all six previous films and directed four of them, doesn’t seem involved in the new reboot series.
With this turn to a more classic horror style, the Resident Evil films seem to be taking the same road as the videogame series has done in the acclaimed Resident Evil 7, wich exchanged the grandiose production values from the sixth entry with a return to a more basic environment, in which players got to experience in first person the horrors from the Baker mansion.
