The upcoming live-action Resident Evil movie has had its official title revealed by director Johannes Roberts. The full title of the movie, scheduled for release on September 3 2021, is Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City. This was revealed in an interview with IGN.
Much like the details we’ve heard on the movie so far, the title seems to be squarely aimed at existing fans of the Resident Evil series, many of whom are still sore from the confusing six-movie mess that was the Milla Jovovich led Resident Evil saga.
In the interview, Roberts reiterated that Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City will encompass events of the first two games, meaning the movie will be split between the Spencer Mansion incident and the initial outbreak in Raccoon City itself.
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A zombie no more?
Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of the original run of Resident Evil movies, directed by Paul W.S. Anderson, was that they lacked the games’ distinct marriage of cheesy writing and genuinely atmospheric locales. Roberts seems to have noted this, though, stating that the Resident Evil 2 remake was a significant influence on the film.
Roberts said: "From that moment on I think we all knew where we were going with this movie because it was such a wonderful cinematic experience, with the tone, constant dark rain, that sort of aspect of the game. I just took that – that's the world I want to work in. We very much took the tone of the remake of the second game and made that the template for this movie."
Much like the way the first two Resident Evil games have quite the tonal shift, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City looks like it will follow suit. Roberts described the Raccoon City Police Department scenes as being akin to “an Assault on Precinct 13 siege movie,” but maintaining that the Spencer Mansion in the film will be “creepy as f**k.”
It all sounds very promising for Resident Evil fans, then, but we think the biggest trap the movie can fall into is suffering from tonal whiplash. Depending on how the scenes are edited and stitched together, it’s possible that the horror and action aspects of the movie won’t mesh well together.
On the other hand, given that the Resident Evil games typically marry horror and action brilliantly (see Resident Evil 4 and the recent remakes for that), it could prove to be an unpredictable and tense ride for moviegoers when Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City releases later this year.
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