George Romero's Unmade Resident Evil Film To Be Covered In…

Film and TV installments in the Resident Evil franchise have been a bit shaky as of late, though when have they ever not been? However, for the die-hard fans, there's something to finally raise you out of your grave: a new documentary is in the works about George Romero's famous unsuccessful attempt to make a Resident Evil film.

For fans of Resident Evil, the George Romero film that never was almost occupied the status of an urban legend. In the late 1990s, after the massive success of the original Resident Evil video game, Romero, the creator of the modern zombie film, tried his hand at adapting the game into a live-action movie, though producer Capcom canned the project. Now, Dawn of the Discs has a new look at an upcoming documentary about Romero's never-made Resident Evil film.

At the recent Creature Feature Weekend in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, it was announced that a documentary about Romero's Resident Evil is in the works. Dawn of the Discs posted on Twitter two teaser images that were shared at the horror convention, which show the film's title screen and an image from the original 1996 Resident Evil game on Playstation. The project will be headed up by Jason Bareford, who was a production assistant for Romero, and Brandon Salisbury, who will direct.

With all this said, questions remain as to what material the documentary will use. Romero only completed a script for the film before it was rejected and never began filming, so actual footage of the project almost certainly doesn't exist. Bareford and Salisbury are filming original material for the documentary, which will reportedly take place in a Resident Evil-inspired mansion and will be filmed in a style reminiscent of Romero's own. Whether this means the film will be a docudrama or will act out scenes from Romero's never-produced script is not entirely clear at this point.

The movie comes at an interesting time, in which Capcom is not entirely sure what to do with the Resident Evil property. After a number of flops, the video game series managed to reinvent itself in 2017 with Resident Evil 7: Biohazard to critical acclaim. The movie franchise, however, has not been as successful. After the conclusion of the lucrative but bemoaned Milla Jovovich film series in Resident Evil: The Final Chapter in 2016, the franchise has attempted to go in various different directions, none of them as successful as hoped.

The 2021 reboot film, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, was released with truly frightening critical reviews but a more positive fan response and Netflix's Resident Evil television series received a deeply mixed response and was canceled after only one season. With the future of the media franchise up in the air, a look back at Romero's ill-fated adaptation could be especially promising and a great learning opportunity.

George Romero's Resident Evil is expected to release in 2024.