Zach Cregger filmed Resident Evil while seriously ill
Zach Cregger directed his new Resident Evil film while seriously ill for the entire shoot.
The director said he had pneumonia during the first half of filming, then Campylobacter jejuni, a bacterial gut infection, during the second half. He described himself as very, very ill throughout production, with everything feeling barely in control because his body was failing him, GameSpot reported.
The film was shot in the north of the Czech Republic. Cregger said the illness left him in horrible pain from start to finish.
The film is scheduled for release on September 18. It stars Austin Abrams as Bryan, a medical courier trying to deliver time-sensitive cargo to Raccoon City General Hospital during the outbreak of the T-virus, the fictional pathogen behind the series.
The story is new and original, rather than a retelling of an existing game plot. Cregger said he had underestimated audience appetite for legacy character stories involving Leon S. Kennedy, a long-running hero of the games.
He also said Resident Evil will be the first and last franchise he tackles. Test screenings, early showings held to measure audience response, led to a key change to the film, which he discussed in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
That interview also touched on his recent run. His horror film Weapons grossed US$270 million against a US$38 million budget. Amy Madigan played Aunt Gladys in that film, and a prequel centred on the character is in development. His next project is the science-fiction film The Flood, produced by Steven Spielberg.
For fans, this means a Resident Evil built around an ordinary courier, not a returning hero, made under difficult conditions. The test-screening tweak suggests Cregger was still adjusting that balance late in the process.
