Zach Cregger shares his improvements to the ending of Resident Evil.

Zach Cregger’s *Resident Evil* film has finally hit the screens, and it’s a refreshing change for a franchise that has seen its fair share of lackluster adaptations. With rave reviews, it has claimed the title of the highest-rated video game movie ever and raked in impressive box office numbers during its opening weekend.

Both critics and fans are praising *Resident Evil* for its gripping narrative, but the theatrical ending differs from what Cregger initially envisioned. In a recent interview, he shared insights into how he reworked the film’s conclusion, ultimately enhancing the story.

*Resident Evil* centers on medical courier Brian (Austin Abrams) as he navigates a zombie apocalypse. His mission to deliver a crucial ingredient for an antidote to the T-Virus takes a personal turn when he becomes infected midway through the film. As he discovers the scientists working on a cure, the T-Virus begins to transform him into a monstrous creature. Despite his horrific transformation, a flicker of his humanity remains as he desperately begs the scientists for the cure, all while succumbing to his monstrous instincts. This tragic moment hits hard, especially since the audience has spent 90 minutes connecting with Brian before he becomes a tentacled, toothy beast.

In a conversation with an outlet, Cregger and Abrams revealed that the original ending had the cure being destroyed much earlier, leading to Brian fully embracing his monstrous side. “Originally in the script, that scientist pulls the needle out, and as soon as Austin [Brian] grabs the woman’s face, he drops it, and it shatters,” Cregger explained. “Then the rest of the movie is just Austin [Brian] killing the scientists, and people were just like, ‘No, it’s over.'”

Cregger admitted that having Brian lose his humanity so quickly was “one of the missteps” he made. “So we reorganized the chain of events,” he noted. “Thank God I shot for this as a contingency plan. It was like my plan B.” By capturing a scene where the last remaining scientist discreetly pockets the cure, the team was able to shift the film’s climax.

“I shot a contingency of [the scientist] going for the stab in Prague when we were doing our thing, as just like, ‘if I need it, I should just get it.’ Thank God because that’s what we ended up using. It keeps the stakes all the way until the end. It’s like, ‘Save him, save him!’ Whereas before it was just like, ‘Kill them, I guess? Kill them all.'” This focus on Brian’s quest for the cure allows the audience to root for him right up to the final credits, making *Resident Evil* a poignant tragedy.

While Cregger sees *Resident Evil* as a standalone film, he has some ideas for a potential sequel. “I’ve already got other ideas of what could happen. But my next movie is already kind of in place here, and it’s not a *Resident Evil* movie — I’m gonna go make something else. But on the other side of that, who knows? Who can say? Anything could happen,” he recently shared.

It feels like Zach Cregger crafted *Resident Evil* just for me.