The Resident Evil movies are based on the Capcom video games of the same name. Of course, ‘based’ might be the wrong word as the live-action movies from the German studio Constantin Film, which began with 2002’s Resident Evil, have only a loose connection to the game series. This was a disappointment to fans of the survival horror titles who wanted to see their favourite moments from the games played out on the big screen.
The six movies in the original Resident Evil franchise fared badly with gamers and movie critics but they still made a lot of money at the box office. In 2021, a new movie was released, unrelated to those that had come before, and this had more in common with the games in terms of characterizations and locations. It’s an arguably better movie than any of those developed at Constantin Film, even though it pales in comparison to the best movies within the zombie horror genre.
In this article, we list every live-action Resident Evil movie in release date order. Which of these is your favourite? Let us know in the comments section below.
Resident Evil
US Release Date: March 15, 2002
Worldwide Box Office: $103 million
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson
Metascore: 33
Main Cast:
Milla Jovovich (Alice), Michelle Rodriguez (Rain), Colin Salmon (One), Ryan McCluskey (Mr. Grey), Eric Mabius (Matt)
Synopsis (from IMDB):
A special military unit fights a powerful, out-of-control supercomputer and hundreds of scientists who have mutated into flesh-eating creatures after a laboratory accident.
Movie Tagline:
A secret experiment. A deadly virus. A fatal mistake.
Resident Evil: Apocalypse
US Release Date: September 10, 2004
Worldwide Box Office: $129.3 million
Director: Alexander Witt
Metascore: 35
Main Cast:
Milla Jovovich (Alice), Sienna Guillory (Jill Valentine), Oded Fehr (Carlos Olivera), Thomas Kretschmann (Major Cain), Jared Harris (Dr. Ashford
Synopsis (from IMDB):
Alice wakes up in the Raccoon City hospital after the area has been overrun by zombies, and must now make it out of the city before a nuclear bomb is dropped.
Movie Tagline:
You’re all going to die!
Resident Evil: Extinction
US Release Date: September 21, 2007
Worldwide Box Office: $147.7 million
Director: Russell Mulcahy
Metascore: 41
Main Cast:
Milla Jovovich (Alice), Ali Larter (Claire Redfield), Oded Fehr (Carlos Olivera), Iain Glen (Dr. Isaacs), Jason O’Mara (Albert Wesker)
Synopsis (from IMDB):
Survivors of the Raccoon City catastrophe travel across the Nevada desert, hoping to make it to Alaska. Alice joins the caravan and their fight against the evil Umbrella Corp.
Movie Tagline:
We Have Witnessed The Beginning… We Have Seen The Apocalypse… Now We Face Extinction…
Resident Evil: Afterlife
US Release Date: September 10, 2010
Worldwide Box Office: $300.2 million
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson
Metascore: 37
Main Cast:
Milla Jovovich (Alice), Ali Larter (Claire Redfield), Wentworth Miller (Chris Redfield), Kim Coates (Bennett), Shawn Roberts (Albert Wesker), Sergio Peris-Mencheta (Angel)
Synopsis (from IMDB):
While still out to destroy the evil Umbrella Corporation, Alice joins a group of survivors living in a prison surrounded by the infected who also want to relocate to the mysterious but supposedly unharmed safe haven known only as Arcadia.
Movie Tagline:
She’s back…and she’s bringing a few of her friends.
Resident Evil: Retribution
US Release Date: September 14, 2012
Worldwide Box Office: $240.2 million
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson
Metascore: 39
Main Cast:
Milla Jovovich (Alice), Sienna Guillory (Jill Valentine), Michelle Rodriguez (Rain), Aryana Engineer (Becky), Bingbing Li (Ada Wong), Johann Urb (Leon S. Kennedy), Kevin Durand (Barry Burton)
Synopsis (from IMDB):
Alice fights alongside a resistance movement to regain her freedom from an Umbrella Corporation testing facility.
Movie Tagline:
Evil goes global.
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter
US Release Date: January 27, 2017
Worldwide Box Office: $312.2 million
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson
Metascore: 49
Main Cast:
Milla Jovovich (Alice), Ali Larter (Claire Redfield), Shawn Roberts (Albert Wesker), Iain Glen (Dr. Isaacs), Eoin Macken (Doc)
Synopsis (from IMDB):
Alice returns 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.
Movie Tagline:
The beginning of the end.
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City
US Release Date: November 24, 2021
Worldwide Box Office: $42 million
Director: Johannes Roberts
Metascore: 44
Main Cast:
Kaya Scodelario (Claire Redfield), Robbie Amell (Chris Redfield), Hanna John-Kamen (Jill Valentine), Tom Hopper (Albert Wesker), Avan Jogia (Leon Kennedy), Donal Logue (Chief Irons), Neal McDonough (William Birkin), Lily Gao (Ada Wong)
Synopsis (from IMDB):
Set in 1998, this origin story explores the secrets of the mysterious Spencer Mansion and the ill-fated Raccoon City.
Movie Tagline:
Witness the Beginning of Evil.
Which is your favourite movie in the Resident Evil franchise? Let us know in the comments below.