Resident Evil Reboot Lands James Wan

The Conjuring’s James Wan will produce the Resident Evil reboot

News of a big screen Resident Evil reboot broke over the weekend, but details were few and far between. Today, Deadline has an update on the project, reporting that James Wan (The Conjuring, Furious 7) is set to produce from a screenplay by Greg Russo. Russo is best known for writing the upcoming Mortal Kombat movie reboot.

According to Variety, the current plan is for this Resident Evil reboot to span six new films with an all new cast. Constantin Film is also producing alongside Wan’s Atomic Monster. A search is currently underway to find the right director.

Wan is currently in Australia, starting production on the hugely-anticipated DC Comics adaptation Aquaman. Meanwhile, a cinematic universe is growing out of his 2013 hit The Conjuring. Annabelle: Creation, an origin story for The Conjuring‘s terrifying doll, hits theaters August 11 with David F. Sandberg directing. Sanberg made his feature film directorial debut with the Wan-produced Lights Out.

The last installment of the first series of Resident Evil movies, helmed by Paul W.S. Anderson and starring his wife Milla Jovovich, earned $26.8 million domestically. Internationally, however, Resident Evil: The Final Chapter grossed an impressive $285.4 million, with $160 million of that coming from China. The $40 million-budgeted sixth film, distributed by Sony‘s Screen Gems, has earned $312.2 million worldwide.

Based on Capcom’s hugely popular video games, the Resident Evil movies have earned $1.2 billion worldwide to date, making it the highest-grossing film series to be based on a video game.

What do you hope to see from the Resident Evil reboot? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

(Photo by Kevork Djansezian/WireImage)