Zack Cregger Talks Casting Austin Abrams in ‘Resident Evil’
Cregger’s next film is set in the world of ‘Resident Evil’; here’s how ‘Weapons’ star Austin Abrams got on board
Key Takeaways
- Zach Cregger cast Weapons star Austin Abrams as medical courier Bryan in Resident Evil without considering another actor, calling him the obvious choice after their first collaboration.
- The film follows Bryan on an escalating journey to Raccoon City that blends survival horror, limited ammo, frantic action, and more.
- Resident Evil opens in theaters September 18, 2026.
One of 2026’s most anticipated theatrical releases is Zach Cregger’sResident Evil, which hits theaters on September 18. For months, any new information on the film has set the timeline ablaze, largely because Cregger’s film is the eighth film—and second reboot—in the Resident Evil franchise; the diehards want something that feels like the games. Cregger, who’s moved from strength (2022’s Barbarian) to strength (2025’s Oscar-winning Weapons) over the last five years, may not be giving (some) Resident Evil fans the shot-for-shot remake of their favorite game, but after catching roughly thirty minutes of footage from the upcoming film, we can confirm that he’s nailing exactly what he’s going for, in more ways than one.
If you’ve seen the trailer for Resident Evil, you’re familiar with most of what was shown during the press event. Austin Abrams—who played James in Cregger’s Weapons—is playing Bryan, a medical courier who takes a job to deliver…something to Raccoon City. As you may know, the film runs parallel to the Raccoon City outbreak in Resident Evil 2, and the hospital is buzzing with action. In that environment, Abrams thrives, and because Cregger doesn’t shy away from mixing in healthy doses of comedy into his horror, viewers are gifted quick scenarios for Abrams’ kind of wit.
During a conversation with Cregger and Abrams, Complex asked Cregger about casting Abrams in the film specifically. Seeing as Cregger’s last project was Weapons, and Abrams was such an important part of the comic relief of that film, was he always Cregger’s Bryan?
“I’d written Resident Evil before we did Weapons, but it was not anywhere near time to cast it,” Cregger explains, with Abrams at his side. “We shot Weapons, and then right after we wrapped on Weapons, while we were in the edit, Resident Evilbecame a real thing. And I just had this amazing time with him,” Cregger says, referring to Abrams. “It was just a no-brainer. It was just like, ‘obviously, this is the dude.’ And so we were still putting [Weapons] together in post when I locked him in. It was not a decision. There was not another actor that I was considering. We had such a good time on Weapons, and I just knew he was perfect for it.”
Abrams admits that while he is a big gamer, he never played the Resident Evil games because he said, “I would try to play them and then just get too freaked out.” But like Cregger, when offered the role in Resident Evil, the decision was obvious for Abrams. “I loved Zach, and I was just like, ‘anything that he wants to do and he’s passionate about, I’m down.’ Because then that gets me passionate about it.”
That passion of Cregger’s comes out in the world he’s built in Resident Evil. One of the things Cregger told PlayStation Blog was that he “wanted to do a movie that was following a character from point A to point B, because that’s what those games do so well. You go on this crazy journey, and you go through all these different environments, and things just seem to be escalating and escalating.“ You catch a glimpse of it in the film’s trailer, but in the footage shown to critics, that escalation aspect is fleshed out beautifully. One accident on a snowy road turns into a series of horrific moments, with tension building upon every location Bryan stumbles upon. The shots of Bryan counting bullets and loading ammo are even scarier when you can hear true terror stomping towards you at full speed. Abrams, when asked about being freaked out on set, admitted that “it’s a lot. It’s a lot of time kind of running around, saying ‘fuck’ a lot.”
For those wondering, Cregger likely wrote “Bryan curses” in the script, but the stream of obscenities that flies from Abrams’ mouth during this film at those moments is both hilarious and frighteningly real. “We improvised a lot of fucks, for sure,” Abrams says.
“But it all feels like, when you’re in this fight-or-flight situation,” Cregger interjects, “your brain powers down into just its own primal function. There’s not a lot of anything else going on except survive. And so that’s what comes out of it. And it’d be like, ‘can we say something a little bit funny here?’ But it was like, ‘no, I think just go with ‘fuck’.”
Resident Evil hits theaters on September 18, 2026. If you’re lucky, maybe you can secure the Resident Evil Organ Transplant Popcorn Bag.
