Twenty years later, Capcom is still milking their zombie franchise
Do you find entertainment in movies and games of the survival-horror genre? If so, prepare yourself, because creators at Capcom, a well-known video game developing and publishing company based out of Japan, have two movies and a video game lined up for the Resident Evil (RE) franchise in 2017.
Since the initial release of the first RE video game in 1996, the series has branched out into several other forms of various entertainment media. Comic and manga books, novelizations, as well as a serialization of live-action film adaptations of the popular video game series have assisted in creating a lucrative multimedia franchise. After 20 years of CGI zombies, a sixth installment of the live-action film series will be added to the Resident Evil ranks. The newest movie—titled Resident Evil: The Final Chapter—will see the return of Milla Jovovich as Alice as well as Game of Throne’s Iain Glen as Dr. Alexander Isaacs; and is slated for a Jan. 27, 2017 North American release.
“After 20 years of CGI zombies, a sixth installment of the live-action film series will be added to the Resident Evil ranks.”
Although the movie sector of the RE franchise has done relatively okay for a film adaptation of a video game, having met with a great deal of commercial success, it would probably be best if we went in to theatres with low expectations. Generally speaking, a large portion of film adaptations of video games fall flat when held in comparison to their original source materials. (Cringe worthy adaptations like BloodRayne (2005) or the Super Mario Bros movie released in 93 immediately come to mind.)
A full-length animated movie is also currently in the works, and slated for a Japanese cinema release in spring 2017. The movie, titled Resident Evil: Vendetta, will be the third official CG animated RE film produced by Capcom. Vendetta is scripted by Makoto Fukami (Psycho Pass) and produced by acclaimed Grudge filmmaker, Takashi Shimizu.
“The newest movie—titled Resident Evil: The Final Chapter—will see the return of Milla Jovovich as Alice…”
Also joining the ranks of the Resident Evil franchise on Jan. 24, 2017, is the seventh installment of the video game series. I’m not a huge fan, so I haven’t followed the development of the game franchise as closely as most RE fanatics may have, but judging from the demo gameplay and teaser trailers, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard doesn’t quite seem to fit the previous zombie-ridden mold of the other RE games. In the demo, which is available for download for PS4 and PlayStation Plus, a psychological sense of terror not unlike Silent Hill or Hideo Kojima’s P.T. is evoked. With painstaking attention to detail, if you’re into the whole virtual reality hype, the game’s graphics will probably look great on PlayStation’s VR (especially if you consider the fact that the game is played from a first-person perspective). There is a definite creep factor here—possibly caused in part by the villains of Biohazard; a seemingly cannibalistic backwater family known as the Bakers, who give off The Hills Have Eyes vibes—that will separate Resident Evil 7: Biohazard from all of its predecessors.
News of the latest videogame installment was met with varying levels of excitement, with the actual title of the game garnering a fair amount of attention from fans. In Japan, the video game franchise’s country of origin, the games aren’t referred to as Resident Evil, but rather as Biohazard—which makes game number seven in Japan, Biohazard 7: Resident Evil; an interesting switcheroo, Capcom. A fair amount of comments on the game trailer on YouTube, in addition to commentary found in articles written for gaming blogs and magazines, have taken to poking fun at the title choice.
All things considered, however, it seems as though 2017 will be the year for the RE franchise. Whether we want it to be or not.
Photo courtesy.