'Resident Evil' Reboot: Cast Revealed For Origin Movie Set In Raccoon City

The main cast for the “Resident Evil” film reboot has been revealed.

Based on the successful survival horror video game franchise from Capcom, this new film will focus more on the origins of the story and will be more in line with the first two “Resident Evil” games released in 1996 and 1998, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

To be directed by Johannes Roberts of “47 Meters Down” fame, the upcoming “Resident Evil” reboot will star Kaya Scodelario as Claire Redfield, Robbie Amell as her brother Chris Redfield and Hannah John-Kamen as Jill Valentine — all characters whom fans of the games will immediately recognize.

Tom Hooper, who has starred in two seasons of “The Umbrella Academy,” is set to play another familiar character in Albert Wesker. Avan Jogia will take on the role of federal counterterrorism agent Leon Kennedy, while Neal McDonough will play virologist William Birkin, who ultimately turns against the Umbrella Corporation but in the process poses an even greater threat to the town.

Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine were the first two playable characters in the classic title, “Biohazard,” in Japan. In the second “Resident Evil” game, Claire Redfield was the lead protagonist.

Bringing the franchise back to the game’s roots, the reboot will be set in Raccoon City in 1998, harkening back to the roots of the zombie outbreak that was caused by the infamous Umbrella Corporation.

“With this movie, I really wanted to go back to the original first two games and create the terrifying visceral experience I had when I first played them whilst at the same time, telling a grounded human story about a small dying American town that feels both relatable and relevant to today’s audiences,” director Roberts said in a statement.

To date, there have been six “Resident Evil” movies, all of which were written and produced by Paul W.S. Anderson and starred Milla Jovovich as the character Alice. These films, which have made over $1 billion worldwide, have elements of the video games but are largely independent of them.

When Capcom created the “Resident Evil” games, it set the ground rules for a genre that captured the imagination of video gamers who had been looking for a uniquely scary yet fun adventure they could be involved in.

The “Resident Evil” video games have been played on different consoles with both third-person and first-person perspectives and with varying degrees of success. The next installment in the franchise, “Resident Evil Village,” is one of the more highly anticipated releases for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X.

A computer-generated anime series titled “Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness” is set to be released on Netflix in 2021.