Resident Evil (2002 film)
Resident Evil is a 2002 action horror film written and directed by Paul W. S. Anderson. The film stars Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Eric Mabius, James Purefoy, Martin Crewes, and Colin Salmon. It is the first installment in the Resident Evil film series, which is loosely based on the video game series of the same name. Borrowing elements from the video games Resident Evil and Resident Evil 2, the film follows amnesiac heroine Alice and a band of Umbrella 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 as Alan B. McElroy, George A. Romero and Jamie 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 a prequel set in the same continuity as the video game series, the film was initially titled Resident Evil: Ground Zero, but was retitled after the September 11 attacks. Cast was announced in early 2001 and principal photography commenced in March 2001 in Berlin.
Resident Evil was theatrically released in Germany on March 12, 2002, by Constantin Film Verleih, and in the United Kingdom on July 12, 2002, by Pathé 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 own continuity: Apocalypse, Extinction, Afterlife, Retribution, and The Final Chapter.
Plot
Underneath Raccoon City, a genetic research facility called the Hive is owned by the Umbrella Corporation. A thief steals the genetically engineered T-virus and contaminates the Hive with it. In response, the facility's artificial intelligence, the Red 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, suffering amnesia. An unknown person tackles her as a group of commandos led by James 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 holding Lickers, 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 were environmental 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. bites Rain 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 the Nemesis 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.
Cast
Production
Development
German production company Constantin Film bought the live-action film rights for Resident Evil in January 1997, and hired screenwriter Alan B. McElroy to write the script. At the time, McElroy was also writing the film adaptation for another video game, Doom, which ultimately wasn't used. The June 1998 issue of PlayStation Magazine published an article about McElroy's Resident 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 the Umbrella Corporation or STARS. Instead, the plot followed a special forces team sent by the government to rescue scientists from the mansion laboratory after the SWAT 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.In 1998, George A. Romero directed a television commercial for the video game Resident Evil 2. The original game's director, Shinji Mikami, is a fan of Romero and had been influenced by his films. The commercial was only shown in Japan, but impressed Sony enough for them to ask him to write and direct Resident 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 first Resident Evil game and included characters from the video games. Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine were the lead characters, involved in a romantic relationship. Barry Burton, Rebecca Chambers, Ada Wong, and Albert Wesker were to also appear. The ending to the film would have been similar to the first Resident Evil game. Romero also hired artist Bernie 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. In a 2002 interview in Fangoria, Romero said that he wrote a total of five or six different drafts, but that they were rejected. Robert Kulzer, head of the production, said that, although he felt Romero's script was good, the film would have received an NC-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. Romero said a number of people from Capcom and Constantin supported his script, but Constantin head Bernd Eichinger ultimately rejected it. In 2019, the University of Pittsburgh's Library System acquired the "George A. Romero Archival Collection", which included material involving his work on Resident Evil. These include several more copies of Romero's Resident Evil script, and a first draft of McElroy's script, dated May 29, 1997, all of which are available to read at the university. A documentary based on this adaptation was released on digital on January 7, 2025.
In 2000, director Jamie Blanks was attached to a new adaptation that was said to borrow more elements from the Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis games.
In 1995, Paul W. S. Anderson's low budget film Mortal Kombat became one of the first commercially successful video game adaptations. After playing Resident Evil, Anderson saw its cinematic potential and wrote a script titled Undead, which he described as "a ripoff" of the game. Bernd Eichinger, head of Constantin Film, was enthusiastic, so Anderson developed it into the script for Resident Evil. In late 2000, Anderson was announced as director and writer, and Resident Evil re-entered pre-production stages. Anderson stated the film would not include any tie-ins with the video game series as "under-performing movie tie-ins are too common and Resident Evil, of all games, deserved a good celluloid representation".