After having worked with Silver Surfer actor Julia Garner on Weapons, director Zach Cregger is pulling from the cast of The Fantastic Four: First Steps once again for his upcoming Resident Evil adaptation. Cregger has become one of the most exciting names in horror thanks to his films Barbarian and Weapons. His follow-up is a reboot of the Resident Evil film franchise, one he says will be vastly different from the previous cinematic incarnations of the long-running video game series.
Deadline reports that Paul Walter Hauser has joined the cast of Resident Evil, alongside the previously confirmed Austin Abrams. Hauser’s role is currently unknown at the moment, as are specific plot details. He recently played Harvey Elder / Mole Man in The Fantastic Four: First Steps and Capt. Ed Hocken Jr. in The Naked Gun, and will next be seen in Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere. His other credits include I, Tonya, Cruella, Richard Jewell, Inside Out 2, and a memorable role as Stingray on the hit Netflix series Cobra Kai.
‘Resident Evil’ Joins a Stacked Slate of Video Game Movies in 2026
The Resident Evil video game series launched in 1996, and is often credited for defining the survival horror game genre. A live-action Resident Evil film series ran from 2002 to 2016, starring Milla Jovovich as Alice, a character from the games who interacted with many of the series’ protagonists throughout the sequels. The films opted for a more blockbuster-action approach as opposed to the survival horror atmosphere of the games, which was criticized by some fans. Yet that didn’t stop the six films from being consistent hits at the box office. In 2021, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City attempted to reboot the franchise, but was a critical and financial flop; a year later, Netflix’s Resident Evil series was canceled after a single season.
Cregger was announced as the director of the next Resident Evil reboot in January 2025, after Sony Pictures acquired the film rights. The new-look Resident Evil is currently slated for a Sept. 18, 2026 release, though given how well Cregger’s Weapons performed in the summer, Sony might be compelled to move the film up to August 2026, which is currently light on big-name films. Cregger has stated that he hasn’t seen the other Resident Evil movies and is instead drawing influence from games like 1998’s Resident Evil 2, 1999’s Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, and 2005’s Resident Evil 4.
Resident Evil is one of many high-profile video game movies arriving in 2026. Two of the biggest fighting franchises of all time, Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter, will face off at the box office with their film adaptations, as Mortal Kombat II is set for May 15, 2026, and Street Fighter is opening on October 16. There’s also The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, the sequel to the $1 billion-grossing The Super Mario Bros. Movie, set for a release date of April 3. Video game adaptations have gotten more popular over the years with higher-quality entries, and they no longer signal critical and commercial disaster the way they did ten years ago. The next yearmight mark a significant shift for the genre.
