Director Zach Cregger has shared details about the challenging production of his upcoming Resident Evil film, including a near-fatal incident involving star Austin Abrams and a practical effects stunt. During a Q&A session attended by IGN, Cregger described a scene where Abrams, playing medical courier Bryan, is chased down a street by falling and detonating "zombie" decoys.

Cregger opted for practical effects to create the explosions, utilizing cranes to drop body-sized blood bags around Abrams as he ran. "We had to basically design this thing where he’s just running and bodies are just falling and detonating all around him," Cregger explained. "I knew I didn’t want to do it with VFX because I felt like it would just look like VFX." The method nearly resulted in tragedy when one of the 150-pound bags triggered prematurely, missing Abrams by inches. "If he had been like one step to the right, he would have died," Cregger stated, noting that the dangerous moment is still present in the final cut of the film. The director also humorously recalled the crew's refusal to repeat the stunt due to the extreme risk involved.

Beyond the perilous stunt work, Cregger also described a moment of existential dread while filming a scene in the Czech Republic. The sequence involved Abrams' character being chased and attacked by a dog in a remote, freezing environment. Cregger, who had been working nocturnally for months and was unwell, expressed his desire to be anywhere else. "I was just running on fumes," he said, acknowledging that such moments are common for filmmakers.

Cregger's vision for Resident Evil has been described as a "gigantic sequence" following Bryan's journey, drawing parallels to Frodo's trek in "The Lord of the Rings." This interpretation deliberately omits familiar characters from the video game series, such as Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield, to avoid retelling stories that the games themselves already tell effectively. Cregger stated his aim is to "celebrate everything I think makes those games so special" without cannibalizing their narratives.

"I didn’t realize how passionate some people were about that," Cregger commented on the fan reception to the trailer, which showcased his departure from game canon. He elaborated that while Umbrella Corporation, the T-virus, and Raccoon City are present, his story is intended to exist separately from the established game plots. "To tell a story that lives in the world of Raccoon City, on the eve of the outbreak, and play by the rules where, like the Umbrella Corporation, the T-virus and all those things are there, but this story just kind of happens over here, that feels like a really fertile place to live."

Cregger's Resident Evil is scheduled to premiere in theaters on September 18, 2026.