| Resident Evil (film series) | |
|---|---|
Resident Evil Trilogy cover |
|
| Directed by | Paul W.S. Anderson (1,4,5) Alexander Witt (2) Russell Mulcahy (3) |
| Produced by | Paul W.S. Anderson Jeremy Bolt Bernd Eichinger (1, 3, 4) Samuel Hadida (1, 3, 4) Don Carmody (2, 4) Robert Kulzer (3, 4) |
| Written by | Paul W.S. Anderson |
| Starring | Milla Jovovich |
| Music by | Marco Beltrami (1) Marilyn Manson (1) Jeff Danna (2) Charlie Clouser (3) tomandandy (4) |
| Cinematography | David Johnson (1, 3) Derek Rogers (2) Christian Sebaldt (2) Glen MacPherson (4, 5) |
| Editing by | Alexander Berner (1) Eddie Hamilton (2) Niven Howie (3, 4) |
| Distributed by | Screen Gems |
| Release date(s) | 2002-2010 |
| Country | Canada Germany United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $183,000,000 |
| Box office | $673,667,741 |
Resident Evil is a film series loosely based upon the Capcom video games of the same name. Constantin Film bought rights to the first film in January 1997 with Alan B. McElroy and George A. Romero as potential writers. In 2001, Sony acquired distribution rights to the film and hired Paul W.S. Anderson as writer and director for Resident Evil (2002). He continued on as writer and producer for Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004) and Resident Evil: Extinction (2007), and returned as director for a fourth installment, Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010), which was released in 3D. He will reprise his role as director and writer for the upcoming fifth installment, Resident Evil: Retribution, set to be released in 2012.
The Umbrella Corporation acts as the main antagonist in the series, a company responsible for the zombie apocalypse as a result of the creation of the T-Virus. The films follow franchise protagonist Alice, portrayed by Milla Jovovich, who was once a security operative working for Umbrella. She is granted super-human abilities after being tested on by Umbrella. Through her battle with the corporation, she eventually meets with the main antagonist, Chairman Albert Wesker (Shawn Roberts). A number of video game characters also make an appearance in the films, including Jill Valentine (Sienna Guillory), Carlos Olivera (Oded Fehr), Claire Redfield (Ali Larter), Chris Redfield (Wentworth Miller) and Leon S. Kennedy (Johann Urb).
Despite a negative reaction from critics, the films series has been praised by movie-goers and fans alike , and the franchise has collectively brought in US$673 million worldwide on a $183 million budget.
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In January 1997, Constantin Film acquired the rights to the Resident Evil franchise with Alan B. McElroy writing the script.[1] By 2001, Columbia TriStar was in final negotiations to acquire North American distribution rights to Resident Evil and budgeted the movie at $40 million.[2]
George A. Romero was hired by Sony and Capcom to direct and write Resident Evil. However, his script was later disapproved and he was ultimately dropped from the movie.[3] Capcom producer Yoshiki Okamoto explained to the editors of Electronic Gaming Monthly that "Romero's script wasn't good, so Romero was fired".[4]
Hired by Sony, Paul W.S. Anderson wrote a screenplay, which was ultimately favored over Romero's.[5] In late 2000, Anderson was announced as director and writer, and Resident Evil re-entered pre-production stages.[5] Anderson stated the film would not include any tie-ins with the video game series as "under-performing movie tie-ins are too common and Resident Evil, of all games, deserved a good celluloid representation".[6] Milla Jovovich was cast as protagonist Alice in 2001,[7] a character she plays for a further three films.
A second film began production in 2003 after the first was a success.[8] Anderson was confirmed to write the script but not confirmed to return as a director. As with the previous installment, Constantin provided financing for the film.[8]
In November 2005, Screen Gems gained the rights for the third film in the franchise, which was then named Resident Evil: Afterlife.[9] It was announced Anderson would again return as a writer. Filming took place in Mexico and the movie was released September 21, 2007 as Resident Evil: Extinction.[10]
Before the third installment had been released, Constantin prepared to release a fourth film in the franchise.[11] Originally set in Japan, the film was soon confirmed to be released to theatres late 2010.[12] Resident Evil: Afterlife was filmed in 3D with the Fusion Camera System developed by James Cameron and Vince Pace for their 2009 film Avatar.[13] The film had a $60 million budget, the biggest budget in the Resident Evil franchise.[14]
The Umbrella Corporation operates a top-secret genetic research facility named The Hive. Located beneath Raccoon City, The Hive has been sealed by The Red Queen due to possible viral infection by the T-Virus.
Alice (Milla Jovovich) was once a security operative working for the Corporation until her memory was wiped. She is led underground, along with prisoner Matt Addison (Eric Mabius), into The Hive by a team of Umbrella Corporation commandos, among them is Rain Ocampo (Michelle Rodriguez). Whilst the team are searching for survivors, they turn the power off, unknowingly releasing the re-animated corpses of Umbrella's workers. When confronting the Red Queen, Alice discovers that the T-Virus spreads through a bite or scratch and that a blow to the head will permanently shut down the attacker.
As the team attempts to escape The Hive, an Umbrella test subject called the Licker escapes and it pursues the team. When they reach the train that leads them to the surface, the Licker attacks and scratches Matt before Alice can kill it. When they reach the surface, Matt is taken away by Umbrella workers and he eventually transforms into Nemesis. In the conclusion, Alice wakes from a coma to a ravaged Raccoon City after a T-Virus outbreak.
The viral outbreak reaches the surface and in an effort to contain the infection, Major Timothy Cain (Thomas Kretschmann) seals all exits to and from Raccoon City. Among the people trapped in the city are Jill Valentine (Sienna Guillory) and her partner Peyton Wells (Razaaq Adoti). After Alice awakens from her coma, she rescues Jill and Peyton from a group of Lickers who escaped The Hive. They are then contacted by Dr. Charles Ashford (Jared Harris) who claims to know of an evacuation point in the city in exchange for the rescue of his daughter Angela Ashford (Sophie Vavasseur), who is trapped in Raccoon City Elementary School. The group also learns Umbrella plans to incinerate Raccoon City to get rid of the T-Virus.
On their way to rescue Angela, Nemesis attacks the team after it is commanded by Cain to kill all STARS members. After Angela's rescue, they then make their way to the evacuation helicopter with Carlos Olivera (Oded Fehr), who has been dropped into Raccoon City and abandoned by Umbrella. After Alice's confrontation with Cain and Nemesis, which leaves the latter two dead, the team flies away from Raccoon City as it is being sanitized by a nuclear bomb. The helicopter, however, crashes in the Arklay Mountains.
A wounded Alice is taken to the Detroit Umbrella research station where she is healed by Dr. Sam Isaacs (Iain Glen). After her display of extraordinary powers, she is driven away by Jill and Carlos. As the Umbrella logo flashes in Alice's eyes, Isaacs's computer states "Project Alice Activated".
The world has been consumed by the T-Virus and Umbrella develops clones of Alice in hopes of finding one who displays Alice's powers. Elsewhere, Claire Redfield (Ali Larter) leads a convoy of survivors across the Nevada desert, including Raccoon City survivors Carlos Olivera and L.J. Wayne (Mike Epps) along with K-Mart (Spencer Locke), Nurse Betty (Ashanti) and Mikey (Chris Egan). A secluded Alice roams the country for survivors. After failing to find any living people, she comes into contact with Claire's convoy after she rescues them from mutated crows.
The convoy, along with Alice, heads to Las Vegas to gather supplies so they can reach Alaska in an effort to get to a place called Arcadia, thought to be a safe haven and free of the T-Virus. Whilst there, they are attacked by super zombies who kill most of the convoy. After being bitten earlier, L.J. transforms into a zombie and infects Carlos. Isaacs himself is bitten by a super zombie and injects himself with large doses of the Anti-Virus which transforms him into a Tyrant. Claire and K-Mart leave for Alaska in an Umbrella chopper, whilst Carlos sacrifices himself in an explosion to aid their escape. Alice confronts Isaacs, in Tyrant form, in the underground Umbrella station. After his defeat, Alice looks on with a clone of herself into a room full of pods as thousands of clones awaken.
Japan is revealed to be the source of the global outbreak of the T-Virus. After Alice and her clones attack the Tokyo Umbrella Station, a confrontation with Albert Wesker (Shawn Roberts) leads to Alice's clones being killed in an explosion while Alice herself escapes.
After months of a failed search for survivors, Alice lands on a beach to find a crazed Claire under the influence of an Umbrella device attached to her chest and with her memory wiped. Claire and Alice travel to Los Angeles where they stumble upon a prison surrounded by zombies. Among the survivors in the prison is Luther West (Boris Kodjoe) and Chris Redfield (Wentworth Miller), Claire's brother. Arcadia is revealed by the survivors to be a tanker off the coast which has been picking up survivors. During an attempted escape, Alice, Claire and Chris are the only ones to emerge and they then reach the tanker only to find it abandoned. As they search the inner depths, Claire begins to remember Umbrella workers attacking her group of survivors and kidnapping them to the tanker. The ship is revealed to be an Umbrella research facility which has lured survivors to conduct experiments on them. Among the imprisoned is K-Mart. The three then meet Wesker, who has been granted super-human abilities due to the T-Virus in his system. After a victorious battle, Alice transmits a message to survivors calling them to the tanker.
In the conclusion, Luther emerges from the sewer drain alive and a fleet of Umbrella Corporation choppers prepares to lead an assault on the survivors, being dictated by Jill Valentine (Sienna Guillory), who has been missing since the events of Resident Evil: Apocalypse.
A fifth film in the franchise was confirmed, entitled Resident Evil: Retribution, and is scheduled for release on September 14, 2012.[15] Filming will take place in Toronto, Ontario from mid-October to December 23, 2011,[15] marking the third time the franchise will film in Toronto. Paul W. S. Anderson returned as writer and director, Glen McPherson serves as director of photography and Kevin Phipps as production designer.[15] Jovovich suggested that the Las Plagas parasite taken from the fourth video game will play a part in the film.[16]
Jovovich was confirmed, as well as Guillory, who will be reprising her role as Jill Valentine.[17] Boris Kodjoe returned as Luther.[18] Colin Salmon who played One and Michelle Rodriguez who played Rain Ocampo in the first film returned.[19][20] Oded Fehr who portrayed Carlos Olivera in the second and third film returned for the film. Johann Urb is cast as Leon S. Kennedy and Kevin Durand is confirmed to appear in the film as Barry Burton.[21][22][23] The character Ada Wong will be played by Li Bingbing.[24] Ali Larter (Claire Redfield), Wentworth Miller (Chris Redfield) and Spencer Locke (K-Mart) will not appear in the film and their absence will be explained by their characters being captured by Umbrella.[21]
Aside from the English produced live-action film series, Capcom have also produced two CGI films which are tied to the original game series, the first of which uses the original setting of Raccoon City, but none of the original characters are present. Degeneration is Capcom's first full-length feature film taking place between the events of Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5, and follows Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield.[25] A sequel, titled Resident Evil: Damnation, is currently in development.
| Character | Film | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Resident Evil (2002) |
Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004) |
Resident Evil: Extinction (2007) |
Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010) |
Resident Evil: Retribution (2012) |
|
| Alice | Milla Jovovich | ||||
| Matt Addison/Nemesis | Eric Mabius | Matthew G. Taylor | |||
| Rain Ocampo | Michelle Rodriguez | Michelle Rodriguez | |||
| Spence Parks | James Purefoy | ||||
| Chad Kaplan | Martin Crewes | ||||
| James "One" Shade | Colin Salmon | Colin Salmon | |||
| Jill Valentine | Sienna Guillory | Sienna Guillory | |||
| Carlos Olivera | Oded Fehr | Oded Fehr | |||
| Lloyd Jefferson (L.J.) Wayne | Mike Epps | ||||
| Dr. Sam Isaacs | Iain Glen | ||||
| Dr. Charles Ashford | Jared Harris | ||||
| Angela Ashford | Sophie Vavasseur | ||||
| Terri Morales | Sandrine Holt | ||||
| Peyton Wells | Razaaq Adoti | ||||
| Major Timothy Cain | Thomas Kretschmann | ||||
| Claire Redfield | Ali Larter | ||||
| K-Mart | Spencer Locke | ||||
| Albert Wesker | Jason O'Mara | Shawn Roberts | |||
| Nurse Betty | Ashanti | ||||
| Chris Redfield | Wentworth Miller | ||||
| Luther West | Boris Kodjoe | ||||
| Leon Scott Kennedy | Johann Urb | ||||
| Ada Wong | Li Bingbing | ||||
| Barry Burton | Kevin Durand | ||||
Resident Evil opened domestically on March 15, 2002 to the #2 spot at the box office. The movie took $17,707,106 from 2,528 theatres averaging $7,004 per theatre.[26] By the end of its theatrical run, Resident Evil had made $40,119,709 domestically and $102,441,078 world-wide on a $33 million budget.[27] Critically, the film suffered with a 34% "rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes.[28] There were positive reviews however with The Chicago Tribune declaring it "one of the few video game movies to truly re-create the gaming experience"[29] and The Austin Chronicle calling it "an absolute wreck. But what an ambitiously mind-blowing wreck it is, bursting with dazzlingly sordid cinematography".[30]
Resident Evil: Apocalypse debuted at #1 in its opening weekend (September 10–12, 2004) with $23,036,273.[31] Averaging $7,014 at 3,284 theatres, the movie had an increased budget of $45 million and made $129,394,835 world-wide.[32][33] Similar to the first installment, Apocalypse was not well-received by critics. A BBC review noted, "A zombie movie as dead-eyed and soulless as its walking dead villains." [34] Not all reviews were negative, The Seattle Times marked it an improvement from the original, saying the film "makes up for the wretched mess that was 2002's "Resident Evil"".[35]
The third film, Resident Evil: Extinction followed the success of the second film opening at #1 during September 21–23, 2007.[36] The film became the highest grossing movie in the franchise with $147,717,833 world-wide, $97,069,154 of it coming from international territories.[37] As with the first two installments, Extinction was negatively received by critics with a 22% "rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes.[38] Empire deemed it "Better than the silly second instalment and boasting an effectively creepy empty world setting, it’s nevertheless scuppered by a lack of coherence."[39] The Hollywood Reporter also gave a positive review of the film, "Fast-paced and filled with brisk action sequences -- the film should reasonably satisfy the devotees."[40]
| Film | Release date | Revenue | Budget | Reference | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | Foreign | Worldwide | ||||
| Resident Evil | March 15, 2002 | $40,119,709 | $62,321,369 | $102,441,078 | $33,000,000 | [27] |
| Resident Evil: Apocalypse | September 10, 2004 | $51,201,453 | $78,193,382 | $129,394,835 | $45,000,000 | [33] |
| Resident Evil: Extinction | September 21, 2007 | $50,648,679 | $97,069,154 | $147,717,833 | $45,000,000 | [37] |
| Resident Evil: Afterlife | September 10, 2010 | $60,128,566 | $233,985,429 | $294,113,995 | $60,000,000 | [41] |
| Total | $202,098,407 | $471,569,334 | $673,667,741 | $183,000,000 | ||
| Film | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic |
|---|---|---|
| Resident Evil | 34% (122 reviews)[28] | 33 (24 reviews)[42] |
| Resident Evil: Apocalypse | 20% (122 reviews)[43] | 35 (26 reviews)[44] |
| Resident Evil: Extinction | 22% (92 reviews)[38] | 41 (12 reviews)[45] |
| Resident Evil: Afterlife | 24% (89 reviews)[46] | 37 (14 reviews)[47] |
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