Resident Evil director Cregger reveals Austin Abrams nearly killed by falling stunt bag on set

Director Zach Cregger has been talking openly about the making of his upcoming Resident Evil film, and the behind-the-scenes stories are as intense as anything in the trailer. Speaking at a footage screening and Q&A attended by IGN, Cregger revealed that star Austin Abrams came within inches of being killed during the production of a practical stunt sequence.

The scene in question — briefly visible in the trailer — shows protagonist Bryan, a medical courier played by Abrams, sprinting down a street as zombie bodies drop from rooftops on either side. Cregger deliberately avoided VFX for the effect, instead rigging cranes to drop 150-pound blood-filled body bags around Abrams as he ran. During the shoot, one bag released too early and missed Abrams by inches. "If he had been like one step to the right, he would have died," Cregger said. "And it's in the movie, so it's f***ing worth it." A separate night shoot in the Czech Republic, involving a difficult dog wrangling sequence in freezing temperatures, pushed Cregger himself to a personal breaking point — he admitted he'd been running on a nocturnal schedule for months and simply ran out of gas.

Beyond the on-set war stories, Cregger has been candid about his creative philosophy for the film. He's a self-described giant fan of the games and has deliberately avoided watching the previous Resident Evil movies. His reasoning for using original characters rather than Leon, Claire, or any other franchise staple is direct: "I'm not going to be able to improve on Leon. Leon exists in the games — anyone I cast and any haircut I give him, it's just not going to be Leon." Instead, the film follows Bryan through Raccoon City in what Cregger describes as one continuous escalating sequence — a regular guy in over his head, closer to Frodo entering Mordor than a combat-hardened game protagonist. The goal is to replicate the survival horror feeling of the games: scarce resources, mounting dread, a world stacked against you.

Not everyone is on board. A vocal faction of Resident Evil fans has pushed back on the film's lack of direct game adaptation, its modern setting with iPhones and snow-covered streets, and the absence of familiar characters. Cregger has acknowledged the frustration but isn't changing course. Given that seven previous Resident Evil films — from the Milla Jovovich action series to Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City — have all failed to fully satisfy either fans or critics, Cregger's survival-horror-first approach may be the franchise's best shot at a genuinely good movie. The film doesn't have a confirmed release date yet, but the trailer is already out and the conversation around it is loud.