Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City Featurette: How The Movie Pulls Off A Faithful Adaptation

When the first "Resident Evil” movie dropped in 2002, it spawned a highly profitable horror franchise centered around an original character named Alice (Milla Jovovich). Inspired by the iconic video game series of the same name, the "Resident Evil" films lived and died by Alice, relegating characters from the games like Claire Redfield, Jill Valentine, Ada Wong, Carlos Olivera, Chris Redfield, Leon S. Kennedy, Barry Burton and antagonists Albert Wesker and James Marcus to second fiddle.

The "Resident Evil" movies are more times than not, negatively received by critics, but the "Resident Evil" franchise is the highest-grossing zombie film series of all time. Until "The Conjuring" and "It" came to crash the party, it was at one point the highest-grossing horror film franchise of all time. The "Resident Evil" movies always make money, due in large part to the international appeal, but also due to the video game series' fanbase constantly hoping that maybe this movie will finally be a faithful adaptation of the games.

Well, friends, we're finally getting what we've always asked for. "Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City" promises to be a faithful adaptation of the games, and has the set pieces, attention to detail, and cinematography to back up the claims. Check out the latest featurette from Sony Pictures and see just how dedicated this filmmaking team is to giving a massive fandom the film of our dreams.

"Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City" is brought to us by writer/director Johannes Roberts ("47 Meters Down," "The Strangers: Prey at Night"), and is the first film in the live-action series not written by Paul W.S. Anderson. In the featurette, Roberts stresses the importance of the film being a faithful adaptation of the games. The first shot we see from the featurette (and an image highlighted by the film's trailer) is a recreation of the first human zombie seen in the "Resident Evil" video game series — the "The Turning Around Zombie" munching away on a victim in the tea room.

"This is an origin story where we meet all the iconic characters from the games," Roberts says. The featurette flashes shots of all of the characters like Kaya Scodelario as Claire, Avan Jogia as Leon, Hannah John-Kamen as Jill, Robbie Amell as Chris, Neal McDonough as William Birkin, and Tom Hopper as Albert Wesker. Fortunately, there are plenty of fans who understand that the film is not a cosplay showcase and aren't throwing bigoted tantrums about the film casting non-white actors, but of course, the comments section of just about every teaser for the film is filled with thinly-veiled or outright racist comments about the casting. 

The featurette then goes to show side-by-side shots of the film versions of video game set pieces like the Raccoon City Orphanage, the semi-truck driver eating a burger, the mansion, and the Raccoon City police department. Roberts and his team definitely took a lot of care to bring the locales of one of the greatest game series ever made to life, and it will be interesting to see what story Roberts has chosen to tell for this cinematic franchise reboot.

"Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City" hits theaters on November 24, 2021.