First Photos: "Resident Evil" Reboot, Director Promises Faithful Adaptation

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One of the major issues with Paul W.S. Anderson's film adaptations of the Resident Evil films was...well...they were nothing like the games. In fact, beyond a couple visual Easter eggs such as a zombie design or a couple of the game's characters in supporting roles, the films didn't even attempt to be like the games. Writer/director Johannes Roberts is trying to remedy that with his new reboot film titled Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City that will directly adapt the narratives of the first two games in the series, Resident Evil and Resident Evil 2.

The first game focused on Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine investigating the disturbing experiments conducted at a mansion owned by the Umbrella Corporation while Resident Evil 2 dealt with Chris's sister, Claire, teaming up with Leon S. Kennedy in fighting a zombie outbreak in Raccoon City while searching for her brother. The film will work with both of these stories, having them run parallel to each other. In a new interview with Roberts, he points out that this new film will drastically separate itself from the previous adaptations:

"The difference with this film as opposed to the previous movies is that it is an ensemble where each of the main characters carries huge importance to the narrative. They are not just cosplay characters who have the exact hair and costume of the characters. It was hugely important with the whole casting process to find people who embodied the spirit and energy of the characters I wanted to portray."

The first photos released with the interview prove that, if nothing else, Roberts is working to at least make it look like effort is being put in to capture the look and feel of the games with the photos almost directly copying from scenes from their source material:

In addition, Roberts points to the flaws of game adaptations in the past and how he's working to separate his attempt from others:

"I think often in game adaptions one of the big flaws can be just casting someone to look visually like the characters…but not really trying to give the audience the thing that a movie does better than a game – which is to create a three-dimensional character that you can really connect with and believe in."

Hopefully, Roberts gives something closer to what fans of the games wanted years previous when Anderson first adapted the games. Something they still haven't gotten more than 20 years later.

Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City stars Kaya Scodelario, Robbie Amell, Hannah John-Kamen, Avan Jogia, Tom Hopper, Lily Gao, Neal McDonough, and Donal Logue. It is set to be released in theaters on November 24th.