Resident Evilis a family affair for writer-directorPaul W.S. Anderson(Soldier, Mortal Kombat) and the franchise’s starMilla Jovovich(The Fifth Element). The combo met on the first zombie apocalypse/corporate distrust adaptation of the popular video game that became the 2002 film. They’ve since married, had two children and over the course of five movies made the biggest video game movie franchise—that now co-stars their oldest daughter as the manifested villain of the whole franchise: The Red Queen. Talk about coming full circle.
We went to South Africa with a small hive of journalists to visit the set ofResident Evil: The Final Chapter. In addition to enjoying the Cape Town location ourselves, we saw the deserted location that Anderson chose to represent the outskirts of Raccoon City, the headquarters of the evil Umbrella corporation that created and released an apocalyptic virus. Anderson has gone a step further in writing and directing the film that will close their enterprise and decided to take Alice (Jovovich) and her band of survivors on a trek back to where it all began: inside The Hive. But Anderson also told us on set that he wanted to get back to the tone of the original film. What does that look like? Real locations, more practical effects and for Anderson, a return to 2D cameras to get into tighter and more claustrophobic spaces.
Our full set roundtable discussion is below. you’re able to find the rest of our set visit interviews by clickinghere.
Question: What draws you to this action-horror genre?
PAUL W.S. ANDERSON: I love genre movies. I grew up watching them. In particular, zombie movies. I was a teenager, I think, when all the (George A.) Romero movies came out. And I was a big fan of them and of Lucio Fulci’s. Then when I played theResident Evilvideo game, I had just done this movie Soldier and then I disappeared into my apartment for literally three weeks. I think people were worried about me because I didn’t answer my phone, no one had seen me, and I emerged after three weeks with stubble and red eyes because I’d been playing the first three video games nonstop. And I said to (producer) Jeremy [Bolt], “We have to turn these video games into a movie,” because they were so influenced by films that I had seen. I could see the fingerprints of Romero and Fulci and also early John Carpenter, likeResident Evil 2is very John Carpenter. It’s veryAssault on Precinct 13. The music is quite similar, the location is quite similar. And I thought, you know, it’s really primed to turn into a movie. Partly because it was very cinematic to start with. But also because it got me thinking about all those movies that I had seen and loved, and I felt like no one had made a zombie film in like 20 years, around the time we were starting with the first one. So I thought it was a genre ready for reinvention.
Can you talk about your screenwriting process for this? Tying up the story but also introducing new characters and making it standalone.
ANDERSON: This script in particular has been fantastic because I got my wife (Milla Jovovich) pregnant, and it allowed me another nine months to work on the screenplay. [laughs] I feel like I’ve put more work in this screenplay, I think I’d have to go back to the firstResident Evilto feel a similar way. And for the same reason. When we made the first film, no one was expecting it, no one really wanted it, there wasn’t an expectation, there wasn’t a release date for it. When we were making it, we didn’t even have an American deal from it, it wasn’t financed with American money. The whole movie was shot in Europe. We only did a deal with Sony towards the last shooting days of the movie. They didn’t see it until the first test screening in Burbank. And they had the rights, according to the contract, that they could put the movie straight to DVD if it didn’t score a certain threshold with the audience. So that was hugely stressful. It went from really stressful to really good about five minutes in when people started cheering.
The elevator scene?
ANDERSON: Yeah. Because it was very quiet before that. You can never tell if audiences are silent because they hate the movie or they love the movie. You can’t tell, whether they’re building up their contempt and they’re going to explode in rage and throw bottles at the screen, or if they really liked it. And they really liked it. And there’s that elevator scene where you think you see the woman’s head get chopped off, but you don’t, and then it cuts to black. And I had all the Sony top brass sitting behind me. And there was a guy in the row in front of me and he stood up and he went, “I love this movie!” and the whole audience cheered. And I turned around at the Sony people, and you could see the dollar signs in their eyes, they were like, “This is going to work!” And, so it was a wonderful screening because of that. I think about three minutes later in the scene where Milla wakes up in the shower and they went, “a nipple!” [laughs] And then the whole audience cheered again. And pretty much from there until the end of the movie. I’ve always seen myself as a populist filmmaker, I really like making movies for audiences. And I’d built a movie that was like, would get that kind of audience response. It was a wonderful screening because it did. Every moment you hoped you’d get a jump or a laugh, you did. And thank God as well, because otherwise we would have gone straight to DVD and there never would have been a franchise.
So what kind of movie are you building here, in terms of bringing it full circle?
ANDERSON: It’s a return to the hive and a return to the very first film. What you discover is there are things that Milla was trying to do in the first movie that she thought she succeeded in and she actually didn’t. So you get back to the first film, the location of the first film, and she tries to put things right and do what she should have done right at the very beginning. And we also, in a way, tell the story of what the Umbrella corporation has really been doing, what the truth behind the T-virus is, what the truth behind some of the characters are. So it’s really revealing a lot, I mean, some of the movies have been deliberately designed as very simple run and gun, almost like chase movies. There’s been a lot of action, a lot of horror, this is more kind of—well, it’s still got a lot of action in it, and horror, but it’s more narrative based. There’s more story in it than any of the other movies. Quite a complex story that I think the fans will enjoy. Things that will make you want to go back and see the first movie again, and maybe watch the whole franchise again. And that’s why I’m glad I got the extra nine months to work on it. I think the screenplay is a lot better than the version we would have shot nine months ago.
But have you always had the answers in your head and now you’re telling them, or did you know you were telling the last chapter and you had to answer the questions?
ANDERSON: A lot of the answers I knew. I had it in my mind that it was the overall concept. A lot of the fine detail, obviously, was done in the writing. I wanted to bring everything to a close. A lot of the revelations are the things I’ve known about for years.
When did you decide?
ANDERSON: It was when we did Afterlife. I said I’d done a trilogy of movies and I wanted to do another trilogy in 3D because I was fascinated with 3D and excited about it. Whereas for the first three, I definitely had a structure, and I had a structure worked out for these. Box office wise, I hoped that I would be able to do that, because unless you have good box office you can’t, because no one wants you to. But at that point, when we started making Afterlife, I knew I wanted to make three movies and bring it back around.
And was Sony up for that?
ANDERSON Yeah.
What is your stylistic approach this time around?
ANDERSON: It’s very different. Because, like I said, I love 3D. I really do. I’ve shot the last four movies I’ve made native 3D, so I’ve probably shot more 3D than any other director. And I do like shooting in 3D but it is constricting in certain ways, as you know. The cameras are very big because each camera is two cameras, they have to have an on-board computer. You end up hanging them from a technocrane and moving them along a dolly. You can’t get them into tight spaces. So it forces you into a kind of shooting that I have become tired of. I wanted this movie to be a lot more gritty and down and dirty, and still spectacular, but I thought more terrifying and realistic than the last film. But, I think you can make a great movie like that. Most people don’t, in my opinion, they shoot a great 2D movie but not a great 3D movie. I’ve got the whole cast from my 3D movies on this one, so Glen McPherson is still doing lighting, I’ve still got the same second unit DP, it’s all the same people on board. So everyone is shooting a film they know is going to be transformed to 3D. But because the cameras are smaller, I can get them into more, tight, claustrophobic, real spaces. And that’s why we’re in South Africa as well, because I love the locations here and I wanted the movie to be a more location-driven film as opposed to all on sets. Again, with the size of the size of the 3D cameras and the technology you have to take with them, it’s much easier to get them into a studio rather than out on location.
Is that changing how you shoot the actors as well?
ANDERSON: Yes, because you’re able to get into there a lot more. I’m sure you guys have been on 3D sets where there are loads of monitors and cameras, computer stands, and you end up trapped in this cocoon of technology. Whereas with 2D, I can get right in there with the actors. Whisper to them or whatever, but the technology doesn’t get in the way as much as 3D. We’re working French hours, and I don’t know why it’s called French hours because I’ve worked in France and they’ve never worked like that, they all take a two hour lunch break with wine.
Milla told us about the 90-year-old prosthetic. She also told us that your daughter is the Red Queen. So you have turned your wife into a 90-year-old woman, and your daughter into the main villain ofResident Evil.
ANDERSON: I’m a horrible man, I guess. I get asked this question by the other actors when they see what Milla has to go through every day like being attacked and beaten up and flown off things, and they all go, “You’re just a terrible person, you must hate your wife.” No, it’s all good, get it out of my system on a movie set with wires. If she didn’t enjoy doing it, she wouldn’t do it. And the same with my daughter, she’s really thoroughly enjoying acting whenever she has to go to school, “When am I going to act next?”
How do you feel about that prospect of her becoming an actress?
ANDERSON: I have to say, she’s really good, she’s very talented. Milla is very impressed she said, “I didn’t have that kind of talent when I was a kid.” I don’t really think I want her to become an actor, I’m very happy for her to do this and it’s really good because it’s definitely good for me that she’s in the movie. But if you look at most child actors, they have a very unsuccessful transition into adulthood. If she wanted to become an actor, it would be better if she waited until she was just a little older. Because I think that’s a very difficult transition. And that’s the majority of her life, as an adult. There’s not many that crossover, Milla being one of the few.
Would you want to see her direct?
ANDERSON: Yeah, happily. Happily. And if she wants to act when she’s older, I’m alright with that too. I think we work in the best industry in the world. Constantly amazed that I get to direct movies for a living, and I’m glad of it every morning I go to the work. I’m really appreciative of it and I think it’s the best job in the world, so I’m not surprised if she wanted to do that job.
Could you do us a favor and put the scenes we saw you shooting tonight into some story context? We’re at a decrepit mill.
ANDERSON: About halfway through the movie, Milla, or at the end of the first act, she arrives at Raccoon City. And there are a handful of survivors living in what used to be a luxury apartment complex called “The Peak.” It’s a full-on, it’s based on Ponty City in Johannesburg, which was originally developed as a luxury condominium. Of course, now it’s all completely derelict and rundown, but they’ve turned it into a fortress. They’re in The Peak Plaza, which was the shopping center at the base of the building, and they built a makeshift barricade out of steel and cars and containers. It’s a shame you weren’t here at the beginning of the week because we had this fantastic gate, this two-ton gate of steel that kind of lowered. And Ali and Owen spent the week defending that. So that’s where they are now. It comes under attack by Iain Glen and his zombie army, his horde of zombies. And this is the end of the battle, so you turned up in time to miss it, unfortunately. But that’s been shooting all week.
How ready are you to let the franchise go?
ANDERSON: If you’d said to me 15 years ago that I would still be makingResident Evilmovies, I don’t think I would have believed you. It’s been an amazing ride. Six films, and to have written and produced them all and directed the majority of them, it’s been amazing. I feel very fortunate to have been involved with that. It’s a very bittersweet experience to be directing the last one. It’s great that there’s an interest in how it might end. It’s been a part of my life, a very big part, for so many years now. Not only have I got a successful franchise out of the series, but a wife and a family, so there’s a bit of sadness associated with that. But it’s really hard work, this one. It’s been a challenge making the film. So I don’t get much time to think about it, to be honest.
What kinds of surprises do you have in store for fans of this film?
ANDERSON: I’m very excited about the narrative twists and turns. I would relate it much more to the first movie than to any other movie in the franchise. The first script was, I think it jumped through some twisty turny narrative hoops and this one is kind of more of the same if not more so because it kind of re-addresses things from that first film and adds on top of it. So I think story-wise, it’s going to be really surprising. And the fact that Mila and Iain Glen play multiple characters in the film is going to be fantastic. And seeing the two of them go head to head is going to be a good surprise for the audience. Iain is a fantastic actor, very powerful. I’m really enjoying working with the two of them, I think the scenes between them are electric. I think that’s going to be one of the high points of the movie. Which I think maybe people aren’t going to be expecting. There’s some really good, dark stuff going on in this movie, darker than the others. I feel like the firstResident Evilwas kind of a dark, unpleasant movie which is what that first audience responded to. I don’t know whether I got soft over the years, but we’ve gone back to the cruel sadism of the first movie. And I think that will be a nice surprise for people, that it’s kind of back in the original form the franchise launched with.
Resident Evil: The Final Chapterhits theaters August 12, 2025. The official synopsis is below.
Based on Capcom’s hugely popular video game series comes the final installment in the most successful video game film franchise ever, which has grossed over $1 billion worldwide to date.
Picking up immediately after the events inResidentEvil: Retribution,Alice (Milla Jovovich) is the only survivor of what was meant to be humanity’s final stand against the undead. Now, she must return to where the nightmare began – The Hive in Raccoon City, where the Umbrella Corporation is gathering its forces for a final strike against the only remaining survivors of the apocalypse.
