The latest trailer for Zach Cregger's Resident Evil film debuted online, giving the fullest look yet at a new story set near the events of Capcom's Resident Evil 2 game. The film arrives in theaters September 18, 2026, distributed by Sony Pictures and produced by Columbia Pictures with involvement from PlayStation Productions (Variety; PlayStation Blog).

The main character is Bryan, a medical courier played by Austin Abrams. He takes a risky delivery job outside Raccoon City and ends up fighting to survive in a seemingly abandoned farmhouse (Engadget). The story takes place alongside the events of Resident Evil 2 rather than retelling that game's plot, which lets the director use the franchise's familiar imagery without copying any single game scene for scene.

Cregger, who previously directed Weapons, first showed footage at CinemaCon in April 2026 (The Hollywood Reporter). Since then, Sony's marketing has moved through a teaser in late May, an "Official Trailer #2," and the current trailer now on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNd1gb19A-c (Engadget). A teaser trailer hosted at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJPu1spHqfk appeared in May, followed by Official Trailer #2 at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKOVrTqXncw.

The newest trailer includes small references that fans of the games will catch right away: a typewriter, which serves as the save point in the games, a box of shotgun shells, and a medical pack (Engadget). These details show that Cregger's team knows the source material well, rather than simply using the franchise name for recognition.

Instead of focusing on well-known characters like Leon Kennedy or Claire Redfield, the film builds around an ordinary courier caught in dangerous circumstances. That is a familiar approach in horror films, and it gives the movie room to exist within the Resident Evil universe without competing with the games' own storylines or the audience's attachment to existing characters.

Whether that approach pays off commercially and creatively is a question for September. What is already clear from the marketing is a production that knows its source material well enough to include meaningful references in a trailer, while betting that a side-story format can carry a full theatrical film. The Resident Evil franchise has supported multiple film adaptations over the past two decades with varying levels of faithfulness to the games, and Cregger's version appears to aim for a middle ground that respects the lore without being tied down by it.