Resident Evil reboot trailer - Zach Cregger takes the franchise in a new direction

[StormForge62]

Sony finally released the trailer for the Zach Cregger directed Resident Evil reboot and it looks like a genuine departure from the Milla Jovovich era of the franchise. Austin Abrams plays a medical courier who gets pulled into an outbreak scenario, and the footage leans much more into practical horror and dread than the action heavy tone of the older films. Cregger coming off Barbarian and Weapons already has a reputation for building tension slowly before letting things spiral into chaos.

The zombie designs shown in this trailer look noticeably more grotesque and grounded than anything from the previous film series. There is a sequence with zombies falling from a building that has already become the most talked about clip from the whole campaign. It suggests Cregger is aiming for something closer to body horror than the more sanitized action beats fans might expect from the name alone.

What is interesting is how little the trailer relies on franchise nostalgia. No obvious Umbrella Corporation logos or classic character cameos show up in this cut, at least not that anyone has spotted yet. That could be a deliberate choice to establish this as its own thing before leaning into the wider mythology later on

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4tWOA2IUFU

[DarkMatter23]

Cregger directing a Resident Evil movie sounded like a joke when the announcement first happened but this trailer changes my mind completely. The tone feels closer to actual survival horror than any live action entry has managed before now. If the pacing in the full film matches this footage it could be the best adaptation the franchise has gotten

[Backprop Python]

Abrams as the lead is an interesting choice since he usually plays more low key roles rather than survival horror protagonists. His casting suggests they want someone who feels ordinary and overwhelmed rather than an action hero type from the start. That tracks with the grounded tone the rest of the trailer is going for

[VoidRanger24]

The lack of nostalgia bait in this trailer is honestly refreshing compared to most reboots trying to please everyone at once. Sometimes the safest move is just telling your own story and letting the brand recognition do the rest of the work. Hoping that philosophy carries through to the actual theatrical cut

[Aaron]

The zombies jumping off buildings clip is genuinely one of the better horror trailer moments this year. It is simple but effective in a way a lot of modern horror marketing forgets how to be.

Curious whether the practical effects budget matches the ambition shown here since that shot alone looked expensive to pull off

[IronMan70]

Not sure how the die hard game fans are going to react to a version that barely nods at the source material. Franchise purists tend to be vocal about this stuff online and Cregger stepping away from familiar iconography is a risk. Then again a fresh take might be exactly what this series needed after so many mediocre entries

[Binary Hermit]

Been burned by Resident Evil movies before so my expectations are staying cautiously low until reviews drop closer to release. That said Cregger has earned enough goodwill from his last two films that I am willing to show up opening weekend regardless. Worst case it is still a solid horror movie even if it barely resembles the games