Zach Cregger admits ‘I was naive’ and pre-apologises for his upcoming Resident Evil film, but I don’t think he owes us anything

After months of complaining about Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil film, the internet has finally broken him. In a recent interview with IGN, he admitted how naive he was to think that everyone would be excited, and apologised for not creating the specific vision that those who are unhappy with the film’s direction have. Instead, Cregger relied on his own instincts as a renowned director and writer—the nerve.

“I was naive,” Cregger says. “I thought that fans of these games, like me, would be thrilled that somebody was coming along and turning Resident Evil into a survival horror movie.” It’s not naive to think that some fans of the games would be excited for this film, because they are—myself included. But there’s nothing on this earth that can unite an internet full of bots, rage baiters, and those whose favourite hobby is being pissed off.

“I didn’t really appreciate the sentiment that [players] have been waiting forever for Leon’s story, and I appreciate that,” Cregger continues. “And I’m sorry that that’s not the story that I’m bringing here. I understand the frustration.” That’s very nice of Cregger to say, but I don’t know a single Resident Evil fan that actually thinks Leon’s story should be explored via a live-action film. Because that would suck.

Yes, we always want more Leon—that’s one of the few certainties of this life. But it would be nigh impossible to cast an actor as Leon and have the community actually accept him. The only solution would be to do an animated series, but again, that’s not without its pitfalls. If we do get more Leon, I would want it to be through DLCs or standalone games, because the best part about Leon Kennedy is getting to play as Leon Kennedy.

“I understand [the frustration] so well because I haven’t seen the earlier movies, because they don’t look like the Resident Evil I love,” Cregger adds. “So how could I be frustrated with fans who have that same attitude? My only hope is that they will see the movie, regardless of their scepticism or their disappointment and that they will feel seen when they do watch the movie and they will recognise all of the love for the games that is in this movie. Because it is there, and this is not just me telling a story and slapping Resident Evil on it so I can get a budget. This is me telling a Resident Evil story.”

It seems like Cregger is just trying to be nice—which is admirable, but ultimately pointless on the internet. Some people will like the upcoming Resident Evil movie and some people won’t, there isn’t much else to it. But I doubt many will change once they’ve made their mind up about it either way—even if Cregger is making it “from a true place of love”.

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