The Secret History of the Resident Evil Movies: On the Other Side of Dying

The creators of Paul WS Anderson’s Resident Evil saga tell the epic story of the franchise on Première.

THE resident Evil by Zach Cregger which has just arrived in theaters is the opportunity to bring out from the archives closet this secret history of the one and only action saga-with-zombies-and-a-heroine, by those who made it.

By François Léger and Sylvestre Picard

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Milla Jovovich, gunslinger star of the series.
Paul WS Anderson, husband of Milla, director of four films resident Evil and screenwriter of the franchise.
Samuel Hadida, producer and president of Metropolitan Films.
Glen MacPherson, director of photographyAfterlife, Retributionand Chapter final.
Martin Moszkowicz, producer and president of Constantin Films.
Alexander Witt, director of resident Evil : Apocalypse.
Dennis Berardi, visual effects supervisor.
Jeremy Bolt, producer and president of Impact Films, Paul’s best friend.

Resident Evil (2002)

PAUL ANDERSON: After Event HorizonI did Soldiera big studio film. It was in 1998. I didn’t really like the lack of creative control: we were filming in the Warner Bros studios, I never really knew the budget of the film… Then I made a small TV film and I started looking for my next feature film. At the same time, as I am a fan of video games, I disappeared into my Hollywood apartment to play the first two games. resident Evil following. My friends were a little worried. I let the phone ring, I didn’t call anyone back. After two weeks, I emerged with red eyes from looking at the screen. “It’s incredible! We have to adapt these games to the cinema!”.

JEREMY BOLT: Paul and I come from the North of England, from Newcastle. This is where he gets his taste for post-apo. THE wasteland from the industrial North… His wife and his sister were strong women too, that inspired him for his characters. We both grew up under Thatcher. And Thatcher is the most badass of them all. There you have it, the franchise resident Evil comes from there: from Thatcher’s England. My first job was to be an assistant to Ken Russell’s producer on the horror film The Lair of the White Worm (1988). I made coffee and lots of photocopies. Russell’s sense of direction was grandiose. But deep down he was especially good at dealing with a tiny budget.