Redanian Intelligence, a news outlet that covers the Netflix Series, Witcher, has announced that an upcoming Resident Evil Netflix series could start filming as early as June of 2020. They cited a production list showing that the project will enter production in South Africa this June. However, this has to be taken as a rumor for now as the production list in question has not been independently verified.
According to the outlet, the series is slated for eight 1-hour episodes, putting it on par with a lot of the more recent series Netflix has been developing as of late.
Rumors of a Resident Evil series originally made the rounds in 2014. It was believed at that time to be coming for regular television and not a streaming service like Netflix. Since the release of the Resident Evil movie, The Final Chapter, in 2017, Constantin Films has been going back and forth on creating a series or restarting the films with a reboot. Some recent rumors have suggested that the rumored series could be a spin-off of the Paul W.S. Anderson films, while others believe that it will be a self-contained entity in its own universe, separate from both the films and games.
If the series is truly moving into production within the next five months, it stands to reason that the official cast list might soon be revealed. We’ve received no word on who would be starring in this upcoming series, but an announcement would surely confirm the rumors that production is moving forward sooner rather than later.
Netflix and other streaming services have officially turned their eyes toward the video game industry after the wild success of The Witcher series. The Henry Cavill led adventure drama proved hugely popular this holiday season when it was released. Many compared it to Game of Thrones, which officially ended in 2019. A second season has already been announced for the beginning of 2021.
Much as Iron Man had done for the super hero movie genre, the Witcher could inspire untold numbers of video game series adaptations. God of War writer and director Cory Barlog has even noted that he feels God of War could be a strong contender for a Netflix-style series of its own.
If Resident Evil is able to perform at the level of The Witcher, it is likely that we could see a new renaissance of video game-inspired shows. Typically, video game adaptations were reserved for TV cartoons like the Super Mario Bros. Super Show or the old Legend of Zelda series. Games have also inspired movies, like next week’s release of Sonic The Hedgehog or the Resident Evil films.
