| Resident Evil | |
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 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Paul W. S. Anderson |
| Written by | Paul W. S. Anderson |
| Based on | Resident Evil byCapcom |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | David Johnson |
| Edited by | Alexander Berner |
| Music by | |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by |
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Release dates |
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Running time | 100 minutes |
| Countries | |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $33 million[3] |
| Box office | $103 million[6] |
Resident Evil is a 2002action horror film written and directed byPaul W. S. Anderson. The film starsMilla Jovovich,Michelle Rodriguez,Eric Mabius,James Purefoy,Martin Crewes, andColin Salmon. It is the first installment in theResident Evil film series, which is loosely based on thevideo game series of the same name. Borrowing elements from the video gamesResident Evil andResident Evil 2, the film followsamnesiac heroineAlice and a band ofUmbrella Corporation commandos as they attempt to contain the outbreak of the T-virus at a secret underground facility.
German studio Constantin Film bought the rights to adapt the series in live-action in January 1997. Several writers and filmmakers, such asAlan B. McElroy,George A. Romero andJamie Blanks, were initially hired to direct and write the film, but their scripts were rejected. In 2000, Anderson was announced as writer and director. Developed as aprequel set in the samecontinuity as the video game series, the film was initially titledResident Evil: Ground Zero, but was retitled after theSeptember 11 attacks. Cast was announced in early 2001 andprincipal photography commenced in March 2001 inBerlin.
Resident Evil was theatrically released in Germany on March 12, 2002, by Constantin Film Verleih, and in the United Kingdom on July 12, 2002, byPathé Distribution. The film received generally negative reviews from critics but grossed $103 million worldwide against a production budget of $33 million. It was followed by five sequels establishing their owncontinuity:Apocalypse (2004),Extinction (2007),Afterlife (2010),Retribution (2012), andThe Final Chapter (2016).
UnderneathRaccoon City, agenetic research facility called the Hive is owned by theUmbrella Corporation. A thief steals the genetically engineered T-virus and contaminates the Hive with it. In response, the facility'sartificial intelligence, theRed Queen, seals the Hive and kills everyone inside to prevent the virus from leaking into the outside world.
Alice wakes up in the bathroom of a deserted mansion, sufferingamnesia. An unknown person tackles her as a group of commandos led byJames Shade breaks in. Alice's attacker claims to be Matt Addison, who just transferred as a cop in Raccoon P.D. Alice and Matt are ordered to go down to the Hive with the group, where they find another amnesiac, Spence, hidden in their train. The commandos explain that everyone in the group except Matt is an employee of the Umbrella Corporation, and Alice and her partner Spence were assigned to guard the Hive's secret entrance beneath the mansion under the pretense of being married.
A laser defense system kills Shade and three more commandos outside the Red Queen's chamber. Despite the Red Queen's pleas for the group to leave, Kaplan disables it, causing the power to fail and all of the doors in the Hive to open. This releases the zombified staff and containment units holdingLickers, creatures created through experimentation with the T-virus. The horde attacks the group, and J.D. dies while the rest are separated. During that moment, Rain loses her keys and Matt, taking advantage of the chaos, sweeps the keys to escape his handcuffs. Alice starts regaining her memories while Matt finds his sister Lisa, who is one of the zombies. Alice saves him, and Matt explains that he and Lisa wereenvironmental activists. Lisa infiltrated Umbrella to smuggle out the evidence of illegal experiments and shut Umbrella down. Alice remembers that she was Lisa's contact in the Hive but does not tell Matt. The survivors reunite at the Red Queen's chamber, where the commandos explain they have one hour before the Hive traps them inside automatically. Alice and Kaplan activate the Red Queen to find an exit; they rig a remote shutdown to ensure her cooperation.
As they escape through maintenance tunnels, zombies ambush them, and a reanimated J.D. bitesRain before she shoots him dead. They reach safety except Kaplan, who is bitten and separated from the group. Alice remembers that an anti-virus is in the lab, but they find it missing. Spence's memory returns, revealing he was the thief who stole and purposefully released the T-virus in the beginning; he hid both the T-virus and anti-virus on the train. Spence turns against the others but is bitten by a zombie before trapping the survivors in the lab. Spence retrieves the anti-virus but is killed by a Licker. The Red Queen offers to spare Alice and Matt if they kill Rain, who has been infected. A power outage occurs. Kaplan appears, having shut down the Red Queen to open the lab doors. The group heads to the train, where Alice retrieves the anti-virus and kills a reanimated Spence.
On the train, they inject Rain and Kaplan with the anti-virus. The Licker attacks them, clawing Matt and killing Kaplan. Alice subdues the Licker before a zombified Rain attacks Matt, the anti-virus having failed to cure her. He shoots Rain dead.
At the mansion, Matt's wound begins mutating. Before Alice can give him the anti-virus, a group of Umbrella scientists seizes them. They reveal Matt is to be put into theNemesis Program, and the Hive is to be re-opened for an investigation into the incident.
Sometime later, Alice wakes up at the Raccoon City Hospital strapped to an examination table. She escapes outside, only to find Raccoon City in ruins. She retrieves a shotgun from an abandoned police car for defense.[a]
German production companyConstantin Film bought the live-action film rights forResident Evil in January 1997, and hired screenwriterAlan B. McElroy to write the script.[7][8] At the time, McElroy was also writing thefilm adaptation for another video game,Doom, which ultimately wasn't used.[9] The June 1998 issue ofPlayStation Magazine published an article about McElroy'sResident Evil script. Described as action- and horror-packed and very violent, the script was similar to the original game. Some changes were made; for example, there was no mention of theUmbrella Corporation or STARS. Instead, the plot followed aspecial forces team sent by the government to rescue scientists from the mansion laboratory after theSWAT team sent in earlier was killed, during which they realize the mission was a trap and that they are specimens in a medical experiment. The script included all major characters and monsters from the game. McElroy's script was rejected.[10][11][12]
In 1998,George A. Romero directed a television commercial for the video gameResident Evil 2. The original game's director,Shinji Mikami, is a fan of Romero and had been influenced byhis films. The commercial was only shown in Japan, but impressed Sony enough for them to ask him to write and directResident Evil. Romero stated that he had his secretary play the entire game through and record the gameplay so he could study it as a resource. Romero's screenplay was based on the firstResident Evil game and included characters from the video games.Chris Redfield andJill Valentine were the lead characters, involved in a romantic relationship.Barry Burton,Rebecca Chambers,Ada Wong, andAlbert Wesker were to also appear. The ending to the film would have been similar to the firstResident Evil game.[13] Romero also hired artistBernie Wrightson to design some concept artwork of creatures for the film, and Wrightson did several designs of Tyrant, based on its look in the original game and its description in Romero's script.[14] In a 2002 interview inFangoria, Romero said that he wrote a total of five or six different drafts, but that they were rejected.[15] Robert Kulzer, head of the production, said that, although he felt Romero's script was good, the film would have received anNC-17 rating if it had been approved. He also said that the producers thought that McElroy did well with his script, but that they rejected it because, by the time it was finished, the second game would have been released and they felt a film based on the first game would appear dated.[16][17][18] Romero said a number of people from Capcom and Constantin supported his script, but Constantin headBernd Eichinger ultimately rejected it.[19] In 2019, theUniversity of Pittsburgh's Library System acquired the "George A. Romero Archival Collection", which included material involving his work onResident Evil. These include several more copies of Romero'sResident Evil script, and a first draft of McElroy's script, dated May 29, 1997, all of which are available to read at the university.[20][21] Adocumentary based on this adaptation was released on digital on January 7, 2025.[22]
In 2000, directorJamie Blanks was attached to a new adaptation that was said to borrow more elements from theResident Evil 2 andResident Evil 3: Nemesis games.[23]
In 1995,Paul W. S. Anderson's low budget filmMortal Kombat became one of the first commercially successful video game adaptations.[24] After playingResident Evil, Anderson saw its cinematic potential and wrote a script titledUndead, which he described as "a ripoff" of the game. Bernd Eichinger, head of Constantin Film, was enthusiastic, so Anderson developed it into the script forResident Evil.[16] In late 2000, Anderson was announced as director and writer, andResident Evil re-entered pre-production stages.[25] Anderson stated the film would not include any tie-ins with the video game series as "under-performing movie tie-ins are too common andResident Evil, of all games, deserved a good celluloid representation".[26]
In early 2001,Michelle Rodriguez,[27]James Purefoy[28] andMilla Jovovich[29] were the first of the cast to be signed on the project.David Boreanaz was intended to portray the male cop lead of Matt Addison, but he turned down the role to continue work on theWB seriesAngel. Boreanaz suggested that he was in negotiations to have a smaller role in the film, but he later declined the role.[30] The role of Matt Addison then went toEric Mabius who was cast in March 2001,[30] along withHeike Makatsch, who was cast as Matt Addison's sister Lisa Addison, an employee working forUmbrella's Hive facility.[31] Jovovich's martial arts training for her role was initiated by actor-martial artistRobin Shou.
In early March 2001, half of the film was to be shot in Adlershof Studios inBerlin and its surroundings.[32]Principal photography began on March 5, 2001, at numerous locations including the then-unfinished stationU-Bahnhof Bundestag of theBerlin U-Bahn, Landsberger Allee, Kaserne Krampnitz and the Schloss Lindstedt.[33][34]
The film was originally subtitled asResident Evil: Ground Zero[32][35] when it was considered aprequel to the games, but the subtitle was removed following9/11.[36] The film's synopsis as of March 16, 2001 revealed that Jovovich'sAlice and Rodriguez's Rain were the leaders of acommando team sent in to prevent a viral outbreak from spreading to the rest of the world.[31] The character of the Red Queen was added into the film's story as anhomage toLewis Carroll'sAlice in Wonderland.[16]
During production, professional dancers were hired to star as zombies as they had better control of their body movements. While computer effects were used on some zombies, much of the undead appearances were accomplished through make-up while their movements were a morelaissez-faire approach, as Anderson told the actors to move however they thought a zombie would, given their conditions.[36] Whilst filming, there was a shortage of manpower where the available dancers were not enough to represent the required numbers of undead, but some ofCapcom's executives and several of the film producers includingJeremy Bolt agreed to make appearances. The film'sstunt coordinator also made an appearance as the dog trainer while Bolt's girlfriend and sister both appeared as zombies.[36]
Thefilm's score and soundtrack were composed byMarco Beltrami andMarilyn Manson during mid-2001. Manson described the score and soundtrack as being more "electronic" than his previous work.[37]
Elements are borrowed fromResident Evil 2 andResident Evil 3: Nemesis, including Alice's character awakening inRaccoon City Hospital with a viral outbreak occurring in the city. There are several references to characters and organizations such as theUmbrella Corporation, theNemesis program, the underground train bearing the moniker "Alexi-5000" (a double callback to a similar train inResident Evil 2 andCode: Veronica's villainAlexia Ashford), and a police cruiser, from which Alice takes out ashotgun, with a "STARS" logo on the hood.Jason Isaacs appears uncredited in the film as an unnamed masked doctor, a reference toWilliam Birkin. The character ofDr. Isaacs (played byIain Glen) in the later films is named after him.[36][38]
Other references include Alice examining the mansion outside, where crows are visible; crows are minor enemies throughout the games.[38] Alice finds a picture of her wedding day with Spence, which is in the same style as the photos in the first version of theResident Evil game: black-and-white with the foreground image noticeablyspliced into the background. In the newspaper at the end of the film, the words"Horror in Raccoon City! More Victims Dead!" are shown in the upper right corner. This is a reference to the same newspaper in the censored opening of the firstResident Evil game and the prologue chapter for theResident Evil: The Umbrella Conspiracy novel. Near the beginning of the film, Alice examines a statue after the wind blows its cover off. This statue is similar in design to one in the mansion of the first game.[36]
While returning to the Red Queen's chamber, Kaplan points out that the four bodies of the group's dead crew from the Glass Hallway Trap sequence are gone. This is a reference to the games, where the bodies of enemies disappear.[38] When the survivors make their escape from the Hive with a countdown as they fight the Licker, this is a reference to theResident Evil game which ends with a five-minute countdown, during which the boss must be defeated.[36]
Anderson has stated that the film'scamera angles and several shots allude to the video game's camera angles, such as the fight between Alice and the security guard. These include a scene near the beginning where there is a close up of Alice's eye, a direct reference to the title screen of the first game. In another scene, Alice awakes and hears a creepy sound, which is a reference to the plot of the first game.[36][38]
In March 2001, the official website was set up, which revealed the film's original October 26, 2001 release[39] and a redirect to the film's production company Constantin Film.[40] The website was fully opened in July 2001, and composed of images, plot info, character biographies and downloads.[41] In January 2002, the film was officially announced to have anR rating, although Anderson decided not to make it as gory as the games.[16][42] Originally it received an NC-17 rating and Anderson had to make cuts; the uncut version was teased but never released.[43][44]
In December 2001, Sony gave fans a chance to design the film's poster with a prize of an undisclosed amount of cash and free screening of the film, with the final design being the film's poster.[45] On February 16, 2002, Nick Des Barres, a 23-year-old aspiring actor and ex-video game magazine designer, was announced as the winner of the competition.[46] The film'strailer and clips were released in late January[47] and early February 2002.[48]Resident Evil was released on March 15, 2002, in the US.
On June 29, 2004, over two years after the film's release, a novelization byKeith R. A. DeCandido was published.[49]
In May 2001, it was announced thatSony Pictures Releasing would distribute the film in North America, Latin America, Brazil and Italy through theirScreen Gems label.[50] It was suggested by Capcom executives that the film would not be released in 2001, but rather in 2002,[51] which was later confirmed by Sony in August 2001.[52] The film was set for release on April 5, 2002, before being pushed forward to a March 15 release.[53]
In December 2001, it was announced thatPathé andFilmFour had acquired the British theatrical distribution rights to the movie as part of a partnership between the two companies. They would both share acquisition and distribution costs and divide profits equally, while Pathé's UK distribution arm would handle distribution.[2]
Resident Evil: Special Edition was released onVHS andDVD byColumbia TriStar Home Entertainment on July 30, 2002, in the United States,[54] April 14, 2003 by20th Century Fox Home Entertainment in the United Kingdom[55] and October 2002 byBuena Vista Home Entertainment in Australia.[56] It was a special edition release, with a number of documentaries including five featurettes, one of which explained the making ofResident Evil, the film's score composition, costume design, set design, zombie make up tests, and themusic video for a remixed version of "My Plague" bySlipknot.
A Deluxe Edition was released on September 7, 2004, which included new special features such as an alternate ending with director Anderson's video introduction, a clip compilation forApocalypse, From Game to Screen featurette, a storyboardingResident Evil featurette, and 6 other exclusive featurettes: The Creature, The Elevator, The Train, The Laser, Zombie Dogs and Zombies.[57]
Screen Gems releasedResident Evil: Resurrected Edition, a 2-disc package containingResident Evil andResident Evil: Apocalypse, on September 4, 2007.[58][59]
On January 1, 2008, aBlu-ray of theResident Evil trilogy was released.[60] The film was also released onUltra HD Blu-ray along with the five sequels on November 17, 2020.[61]
In the United Kingdom, it was watched by2.8 million viewers on television during the first half of 2005, making it the eighth most-watched UK film on television during that period.[62]
The film opened in 2,528 theaters and grossed $17,707,106 on its opening weekend (March 15–17, 2002), ranking in second place behindIce Age.[63][3] The film grossed $40,119,709 domestically and $103,787,401 worldwide.[6]
OnRotten Tomatoes the film has a score of 36% based on reviews from 132 critics and an average rating of 4.6/10. The consensus reads, "Like other video game adaptations,Resident Evil is loud, violent, formulaic, and cheesy."[64] OnMetacritic, the film has an average score of 35 out of 100 based on 24 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[65] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.[66]
Robert K. Elder from theChicago Tribune thought the film "updates the zombie genre with an anti-corporate message while still scaring its audience and providing heart-pounding action".[67]Owen Gleiberman fromEntertainment Weekly noted: the film is as "impersonal in its relentlessness as the video-game series that inspired it".[68]
Resident Evil and its sequel appeared onRoger Ebert's most hated films list, published in 2005.[69] In his review, Ebert described it as a zombie movie set in the 21st century, where "large metallic objects make crashing noises just by being looked at", and criticized the dialogue for being a series of commands and explanations with no "small talk".[70]
In 2014, filmmakerJames Cameron namedResident Evil his biggest guilty pleasure.[71][72] Rotten Tomatoes lists the film on its 100 Best Zombie Movies, Ranked by Tomatometer.[73]
| Year | Award | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Golden Schmoes Awards | Most Underrated Movie of the Year | Resident Evil | Nominated | [74] |
| Best Horror Movie of the Year | Nominated | ||||
| Best T&A of the Year | Milla Jovovich | Nominated | |||
| 2003 | 29th Saturn Awards | Best Horror Film | Resident Evil | Nominated | [75] |
| Best Actress | Milla Jovovich | Nominated | |||
| German Camera Awards | Outstanding Editing in a Feature Film | Alexander Berner | Nominated | [76] | |
| 2004 | Golden Trailer Awards | Most Original | Ignition Creative | Nominated | [77] |
After commercial success at the box office, asequel,Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004) was released. It was followed byResident Evil: Extinction (2007),Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010),Resident Evil: Retribution (2012) andResident Evil: The Final Chapter (2016). Anderson did not direct the second or third films due to filming commitments withAlien vs. Predator (2004) andDeath Race (2008).[78][79]
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