Is the *Resident Evil* film rebooting again? This time, don’t rush to criticize it just yet.

I’d give it a 7. Because this new Resident Evil film reboot, at least in terms of direction, feels like it’s finally remembered who it is. Sony Pictures has already revealed the official logo for the new live-action film at CinemaCon 2026 and confirmed its North American release date as September 18, 2026. The moment veteran players see the word “reboot,” their first instinct is to frown—after all, this series has racked up so many failed screen adaptations over the years that it’s starting to rival the number of typewriter save points.

This project is directed by Zach Cregger, and the official pitch is very straightforward: return to the series’ original survival-horror flavor and get closer to the horror experience of the first game. I’ll take note of that for now, but I’m not applauding just yet. Why? Because what Resident Evil has never lacked over the years is marketing that claims to understand longtime fans—only for the finished film to turn Raccoon City into a giant CGI parkour set all over again.

That said, the early test screening feedback is at least somewhat interesting. According to the reports, the film runs about 90 minutes and goes all-in on a high-pressure, tightly wound, action-heavy pure horror approach, to the point of being described as “a horror version of Mad Max.” That’s a risky comparison, because what made the original Resident Evil so valuable was never nonstop explosions, but the suffocating tension of those fixed PS1-era camera angles pressing you forward. If all that’s left in the end is car chases and explosions, then it’s just the same old problem in a new skin.

More importantly, the leaked plot details mentioned in the report have not been confirmed, and that distinction matters. What does seem relatively clear at this stage is that the film may use a completely original story, with an ordinary courier named Bryan as the protagonist, played by Austin Abrams, while still being set in post-outbreak Raccoon City. Put plainly, this is not “copying the first game scene for scene,” but rather borrowing its horror framework and inserting the perspective of an ordinary person trying to survive as the city collapses.

That approach, honestly, feels more solid to me than force-fitting Leon or Jill into it. An ordinary-person protagonist naturally brings a sense of helplessness and fits the foundation of survival horror better—you don’t end up starting the movie with a max-level character on New Game Plus. Think about it: what made the original Resident Evil and Resident Evil 2 so gripping was never heroism, but the oppressive uncertainty of “what’s behind that door?” If the movie can capture that feeling, it matters far more than faithfully recreating a few shotguns.

Looking at the broader trend, the biggest fear with game adaptations in recent years hasn’t been adaptation itself, but not knowing who they’re supposed to serve. Try to please general audiences, and the setting gets watered down; try to please fans, and you pile on Easter eggs until nobody is satisfied. The signals this new Resident Evil is giving off right now are at least clearer than before: controlled runtime, focused genre, clear setting—make one solid horror film first, then talk about universe-building and nostalgia later. At the very least, that sounds more reliable than turning the series into a Resident Evil 6-style mishmash.

The reaction from the player community has actually been pretty typical. Some people start shaking their heads the moment they hear “original protagonist,” feeling that even putting that name into an Outbreak spinoff would make it sound out of place; others think that as long as Raccoon City is grimy enough, the monsters are vicious enough, and the pacing doesn’t get bloated, it doesn’t matter who the lead is. My view is the same: don’t rush to call it a masterpiece, and don’t rush to declare it dead either. Wait until the trailer actually delivers the sense of oppression, spatial tension, and creature design—then decide whether this franchise has finally escaped the B-movie set and returned to the Resident Evil that made people afraid to open the door.