Zach Cregger Reveals Why He Didn’t Want ‘Resident Evil’ to Have Any “Sexy” Stars

For years, ‘Resident Evil’ on the big screen meant one thing: stylish, high-octane action. Milla Jovovich led 6 films that ran from 2002 to 2017, which turned the survival-horror games into a glossy action franchise. Fans of the games have been asking for something scarier ever since.

Zach Cregger’s reboot is a deliberate swing in the other direction. The ‘Barbarian’ and ‘Weapons’ filmmaker wrote and directed the new movie, which follows a medical courier named Bryan, played by Austin Abrams, as he fights through an outbreak of infected monsters in Raccoon City. Cregger has also said he has never seen any of the earlier ‘Resident Evil’ movies, even though he has poured countless hours into the games.

That approach is now driving a small firestorm online. Cregger said he didn’t want any hot people in ‘Resident Evil’, the video has him saying he wants the cast to be gritty and terrifying instead of sexy, and that he is less interested in the glossy action aspect the earlier movies seemed to offer.

Context matters here. Cregger’s original remark was about wanting a de-glamorized look, and he was careful not to insult Abrams, his frequent collaborator, whom he said was intentionally frumped up for the role. The same report points out that the goal was to get away from the polished look of the Jovovich era, not to knock any actor’s appearance.

Zach Cregger's vision for his version of 'Resident Evil' is all about the horror, not the hotties — with the exception of Austin Abrams. pic.twitter.com/v7qk6qGcSh

— Entertainment Tonight (@etnow) September 18, 2026

Some fans in the replies read it differently. One user wrote that he literally just insulted the whole cast, while another asked why he lowkey called the cast ugly.

The film’s reception seems to be helping. The reviews praised the tonal pivot and described it as new life for a suffering franchise. The movie opened in the U.S. on Sept. 18, after a Los Angeles premiere on Sept. 15, and Wikipedia’s tally lists a $108.3 million box office on a $75 million budget.

The first trailer for Zach Cregger's ‘RESIDENT EVIL’ has been released.

In theaters on September 18. pic.twitter.com/eeVCAGzy6M

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) April 30, 2026

Cregger has been consistent about his approach. In earlier comments to Inverse, he said the film follows the rules of the games and is essentially a love letter to them. He also said he wasn’t retelling Leon’s story, since fans already have that in the games, and that the movie exists outside of the original characters.

The supporting cast includes Zach Cherry, Kali Reis, and Paul Walter Hauser. Running just 95 minutes, the film leans on tension and dread, which fits the small-scale survival feel Cregger described. That shape matches the game’s pacing, where a hurt player with limited ammunition has to make their way down a dark hallway.

So the controversy comes down to phrasing, not philosophy. The director wants his characters to look worn down and scared, and he made that point bluntly. Given how the film is performing, it seems audiences are willing to look past the soundbite.

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