Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City Star Confirms Reshoots Are Underway

Robbie Amell, one of the stars of the upcoming reboot Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, commented recently that the film is undergoing reshoots. The new film is meant to be the start of a new Resident Evil film franchise that is based on the long-running video game series. Previously, the series found its way to the big screen with writer-director Paul W.S. Anderson's 2002 Resident Evil film starring Milla Jovovich. Those Resident Evil films did well at the box office, but got mixed to negative reviews from critics. The Resident Evil film series is currently the highest-grossing film franchise based on a video game with $1.2 billion in worldwide revenue.

Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City is said to adhere to the games and characters fans love more than Anderson's films did. It is directed by Johannes Roberts, whose previous films include 47 Meters Down and The Strangers: Prey at Night. Alongside Amell as Chris Redfield, fans will get to see other beloved characters such as Jill Valentine portrayed by Hannah John-Kamen, Lily Gao playing Ada Wong, Avan Jogia as Leon S. Kennedy, and Tom Hopper as Albert Wesker. The film will be set in 1998 and focus on the Spencer Mansion and Raccoon City.

In a recent Twitch stream (via Comicbook), Amell took notice of a follower with Redfield in their username. This prompted him to quickly say, "I'm actually back in Toronto for Resident Evil reshoots, so I'm back in Chris Redfield mode." While it was a quick comment, Amell appeared to be happy when mentioning the film, and there wasn't any hesitation in his comment.

While movies doing reshoots are a pretty standard part of Hollywood, most people assume it's a negative strike against the film. Some films do undergo extensive reshoots that alter entire scenes, characters, or even complete script acts, as seen with films like World War Z and Justice League. However, more often than not, reshoots are getting shots to make scenes flow better. This often includes adding dialogue, reshooting scenes that didn't cut together the way they hoped, or even simply adding in moments of levity if they felt the film was too dark in tone. So since most big productions are likely to have some reshoots, it doesn't mean Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City is in bad shape.

Given the potentially lucrative nature of launching what could be a massive film franchise, reshoots should be expected, both by fans and the production. With Amell dropping the comment so casually, it would seem as if the reshoots more than likely have nothing to do with the overall quality and everything to do with simply putting the finishing touches on what was already shot when principal photography wrapped last December. With a release date tentatively scheduled for November 24, 2021, fans are likely to get a glimpse at the first footage in the coming months, and it will be exciting to see how loyal to the games Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City ends up being.