Resident Evil TV Series In Development at Netflix
First Umbrella Academy and now Umbrella Corporation – Netflix’s quest to dominate all pop culture umbrellas knows no limits.
Netflix is developing a TV series based on the long running videogame and film franchise, Resident Evil. Deadline first reported the news.
The TV series will be a Netflix original and debut globally if picked up. Deadline reports that this wouldn’t just be a Resident Evil TV series in name only, it will delve deep into the franchise’s mythology. The series will reportedly cover the inner workings of the villainous Umbrella Corporation and the terrifying new world it has ushered in with the release of the T-virus. Yes, there will be Easter eggs.
Constantin Film, the German studio behind all six Resident Evil films, will also be the studio for the TV series. Despite Constantin’s involvement, it’s unlikely that Resident Evil movie heroine Milla Jovovich would return for the show. The sxith Resident Evil movie was titled Resident Evil: The Final Chapter and Hollywood wouldn’t just lie to us like that, would it?
The Resident Evil film franchise launched in 2002 with the aptly named Resident Evil starring Jovovich. The movie saw five subsequent sequels, Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Resident Evil: Extinction, Resident Evil: Afterlife, Resident Evil: Retribution, and Resident Evil: The Final Chapter. All directed by Paul W.S. Anderson, those six films together earned $1.2 billion worldwide and can lay claim to the title of most successful video game film franchise ever.
further reading: Resident Evil 2: Reliving the Horror Classic
The games that inspired the film franchise and now the TV series first launched in 1996 with Resident Evil (known as Biozhazard in Japan). A total of 24 sequels and remakes have since been released in the franchise with the most recent being this year’s Resident Evil 2 remake.
The game series pioneered the concept of survival horror in videogames and established a surprisingly deep mythology based on zombies terrorizing the citizens of Raccoon City.
The Netflix series doesn’t have a showrunner or any other timeframe in place yet but we’ll keep you updated. Likewise with the Resident Evil film series reboot. This franchise really is a zombie.
Alec Bojalad is TV Editor at Den of Geek and TCA member. Read more of his stuff here. Follow him at his creatively-named Twitter handle @alecbojalad