With $60 million made at the box office during its opening weekend and a Certified Fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes, Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil exceeded expectations. Remember, it wasn’t long ago that fans of the Resident Evil video game franchise hated the first trailer for Resident Evil—now it’s considered the best movie adaptation of a video game? Maybe next time, wait to see the movie before you start tripping?
Actually, we get it; after running through the Resident Evil movie franchise (with six of the eight films written by Paul W.S. Anderson, who also directed four of them), we get it. Most gamers just want to see the video games they have been loving turned into movies they can gawk at in theaters; there were seven Resident Evil films before Cregger hopped into the director’s chair for the second Resident Evil reboot in five years. Luckily for Sony, the guy behind Barbarian and Weapons knocked it out of the park.
If Sony returns to Raccoon City, it’ll be interesting to see if they follow Cregger’s lead or fall back to what wasn’t working. The antidote is in their court. Until then, here’s a look at every Resident Evil movie, ranked.
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Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2021)
Director: Johannes Roberts
Starring: Kaya Scodelario, Hannah John-Kamen, Robbie Amell, Tom Hopper, Avan Jogia, Donal Logue, Neal McDonough
Interestingly enough, Johannes Roberts’ 2021 reboot of the Resident Evil film franchise actually stuck closer to the source material than previous works. That may have been the most interesting part of the film: bland characters, a generic story, and, while fun, it didn’t hit hard enough for fans to care, which canceled any sequel conversations around it. A blessing in disguise?
Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004)
Director: Alexander Witt
Starring: Milla Jovovich, Sienna Guillory, Oded Fehr, Thomas Kretschmann, Jared Harris, Mike Epps
Yikes; how does a movie both pick up where its predecessor left off while choosing to walk the same beats? This is a real “if it ain’t broke” ass movie, full of wild action (that truly feels more outside of the Resident Evil realm) and light on actual story. If this is your bag, have at it.
Resident Evil: Extinction (2007)
Director: Russell Mulcahy
Starring: Milla Jovovich, Oded Fehr, Ali Larter, Iain Glen, Ashanti, Mike Epps, Christopher Egan, Spencer Locke, Jason O'Mara
Another middle-of-the-franchise entry that feels just like that: an ending(?) that surely sets up whatever rinse-and-repeat zombie storyline antics Anderson had ready for the inevitable sequel. (These films made money no matter what they were offering.) Maybe that’s the point? As long as you served the goods in exciting(?) new ways, the diehards were still showing up. And it’s not like this film doesn’t serve them.
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (2017)
Director: Paul W. S. Anderson
Starring: Milla Jovovich, Iain Glen, Ali Larter, Shawn Roberts, Eoin Macken, Ruby Rose, William Levy
The sixth and final, um, chapter to Paul W.S. Anderson’s Resident Evil films, was also the highest-grossing of the franchise (until Cregger took over). Albert Wesker was dead set on wiping out the remaining survivors and would stop at nothing to do it. For those late to the franchise, one, why are you watching? Two, if you do plan on watching, you will have to run through the franchise from the first film, as this glorified nostalgia party is heavy on the, um, nostalgia. It’s like throwing a big party for your coworkers the night before the store’s closing.
Resident Evil: Retribution (2012)
Director: Paul W. S. Anderson
Starring: Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Kevin Durand, Sienna Guillory, Shawn Roberts, Aryana Engineer, Colin Salmon, Johann Urb, Boris Kodjoe, Li Bingbing
Would Retribution be better or worse if it was filmed alongside The Final Chapter? The world may never know. Strictly for the hardcore, it’s one of the rare films that feels more like the source material, which should be applauded. (Maybe that’s why Anderson decided to focus on just making this film.) With a massive global opening weekend, beating out Aferlife’s $39 million with a whopping $49.6 million, Retribution talked the talk.
Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010)
Director: Paul W. S. Anderson
Starring: Milla Jovovich, Ali Larter, Kim Coates, Shawn Roberts, Sergio Peris-Mencheta, Spencer Locke, Boris Kodjoe, Wentworth Miller
For the fourth installment of his series, Anderson decided to return to the director’s chair, something he hadn’t done since the first film. Once the second-highest-grossing film in the franchise, it shines in how it uses its sets and locations, as well as the 3D elements it incorporates. They had to do something to revive this one (especially since it has a damn good Wesker moving within it).
Resident Evil (2002)
Director: Paul W. S. Anderson
Starring: Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Eric Mabius, James Purefoy, Martin Crewes, Colin Salmon
What’s sad is that, because the first Resident Evil film dropped during an era when theatrical adaptations of your favorite video games were mostly trash, Resident Evil (2002) ranks higher than it has any real business to be. It set the tone for this franchise: very loud, relentless. Resident Evil keeps coming at you, and eventually, you realize that’s the point. That doesn’t make it a good movie, but again, at the time, you were lucky to see your favorite video games on the silver screen.
Resident Evil (2026)
Director: Zach Cregger
Starring: Austin Abrams, Zach Cherry, Kali Reis, Paul Walter Hauser
Finally! After seven films that didn’t quite scratch the itch, it took the director of 2025’s Weapons to whip the franchise into shape. Like the other films, his Resident Evil puts the Umbrella Corporation at the center of everything, but instead of setting it directly in the midst of the Raccoon City incident in the second game, Cregger lets us follow an everyman courier whose delivery pulls him into the mouth of madness.
It’s funny as hell, citing classics like Evil Dead II as inspiration, which also means it’s bloody violent. Cregger is great at all of that and, unsurprisingly, won the box office while potentially giving the franchise a second wind. If you love Resident Evil and they greenlight another film after this, you better thank Cregger.
