Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City: Release Date, Cast And More

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The first live-action Resident Evil movie, which was based on the popular video game franchise, hit theaters nearly 20 years ago, so it's no surprise that Hollywood thinks it's time for a reboot. Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City takes the story back to its roots, and brings a whole new cast along for the ride. Here's everything we know about the upcoming film.

Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City is currently slated to open on November 24, 2021. As of now, Sony Pictures Releasing plans to make the film's initial release exclusive to theaters, so fans should be prepared to spend their Thanksgiving holiday eating good food and then heading to a local cinema to see zombies get shot in the face.

The Resident Evil film franchise currently has six movies in it, with Milla Jovovich starring in all of them so far. But that will change with Welcome to Raccoon City, which is a reboot that's based on the first and second video games, which were made by Capcom. "It's a totally separate story that is based on the roots of the game and the world of terror," the director said of this new iteration, while also highlighting the tone would be different from the previous movies as well. "What I loved about the games was that they were just scary, and that's a lot of what I wanted, that atmosphere," he said. "It's raining constantly, it's dark, it's scary, Raccoon City is a rotten character. I wanted to put [it] and mix it with the fun side, especially with the narrative style of the first game."

This upcoming movie is reportedly meant to kickstart "a new universe inspired by storylines and characters from Capcom's classic Resident Evil games."

Set in the year 1998, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City tells the story of the city being overrun by zombies, and will be set in the mansion from the first game and the police station that appeared in the second game. Here's the official synopsis:

"Once the booming home of pharmaceutical giant Umbrella Corporation, Raccoon City is now a dying Midwestern town. The company's exodus left the city a wasteland...with great evil brewing below the surface. When that evil is unleashed, the townspeople are forever...changed...and a small group of survivors must work together to uncover the truth behind Umbrella and make it through the night."

While Paul W.S. Anderson was the creative driving force behind all of the previous Resident Evil movies, this one sees Johannes Roberts step behind the camera as the writer and director. His previous directing credits include the 47 Meters Down shark attack movies, as well as horror films The Strangers: Prey at Night and The Other Side of the Door. Maxime Alexandre (The Haunting of Bly Manor, Shazam!) is the cinematographer, Dev Singh (Spiral) is the editor, and Hartley Gorenstein, James Harris, Robert Kulzer, and Martin Moszkowicz serve as producers.

Robbie Amell plays Chris Redfield, a member of the police department's STARS (Special Tactics And Rescue Service) unit who is tasked with investigating an incident at the Spencer Mansion. Kaya Scodelario plays Chris's sister Claire, a college student who searches for her brother when he goes missing. Hannah John-Kamen plays Jill Valentine, Chris's partner. Avan Jogia plays Leon Kennedy, a young police recruit who unites with Claire to go on a search. Tom Hopper plays Albert Wesker, a mysterious member of the STARS team. The rest of the cast includes Donal Logue, Lily Gao, Neal McDonough, Chad Rook, and Marina Mazapa.