Constantin Film is set to reboot the successful "Resident Evil" franchise. This seems a big strange since "Resident Evil: The Final Chapter" hit theaters in January of this year and the DVD just went on sale two weeks ago. However, with that final chapter of the saga of Alice (Milla Jovovich) comes the news that a brand new six-picture franchise is coming and it will have nothing to do with the original franchise. However, there is great news for fans of the video games, as James Wan will produce the new series.
The "Resident Evil" franchise
The original "Resident Evil" franchise started off with a very polarizing film.
Fans of the video games were not happy with the movie because it focused on the Milla Jovovich character of Alice and had very little to do with the games on which it was based. However, at the same time, the movie was a very fun action horror movie and actually worked well to build a mythology that paid off through the end of the franchise.
When asked about the new reboot, Milla Jovovich didn't seem too surprised but was flippant about the entire idea. She said "good luck with that" but then actually went on to explain the history. Jovovich said that the studio had wanted to reboot it for years but they were able to finish their story anyway. She also said that the studio seems to be putting the "cart before the horse."
The new "Resident Evil"
There is very little information about the new "Resident Evil" franchise.
What the studio did say is that this is supposed to be a six-picture deal. That is where Milla Jovovich is right when she said they are putting the "cart before the horse." Studios should take the new King Authur movie as a template on not getting ahead of themselves.
In its opening weekend, "King Authur: Legend of the Sword" made $15.3 million domestically and has only made $94.5 mllion after two weekends worldwide.
That is with a $175 million budget. The plans were for this to start a huge six-movie franchise. With the movie flopping, those plans are likely dead and "Resident Evil" producers should beware.
James Wan
However, the one thing that the new "Resident Evil" franchise has going for it is James Wan. If anyone can make this succeed, it is James Wan.
He got his start with the indie horror movie "Saw" and made $104 million on a budget of $1.2 million. He had other huge winners with "The Conjuring" and "Insidious" and has since moved on to big budgets with "Furious 7" and the upcoming "Aquaman."
