Resident Evil Spin-Off Series Announced

A small-screen spin-off of the ‘Resident Evil’ movie franchise is in development, production company Constantin Film have confirmed.

Just as we learn that another popular female-led sci-fi/action/horror movie series, ‘Underworld,’ may have a TV spin-off of its own in the works, it seems the zombie-fighting saga of Milla Jovovich’s Alice may be headed the same way.

Nor do the parallels between the film franchises end there, as both are distributed by studio Screen Gems, and both are the work of a husband and wife, director-star team: Jovovich and Paul WS Anderson, and Kate Beckinsale and Len Wiseman.

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Variety reports that Constantin’s chairman Martin Moszkowicz made the announcement at a Cannes TV market this weekend, declaring the German company “are increasing our TV activities substantially both in Germany and internationally.”

To this end, TV adaptations of both ‘Resident Evil’ and their 2013 release ‘The Mortal Instruments’ (not a huge hit, but based on a popular book series) are both on the cards.

It is noted that the ‘Resident Evil’ TV show may not get off the ground until after the next movie. Given that Paul WS Anderson has announced this sixth film will be entitled ‘Resident Evil: the Final Chapter,’ it would seem Constantin are planning ahead for their valuable property once the movie series finally comes to an end.

Of course, the ‘Resident Evil’ movies are themselves a spin-off of the Capcom video game series. Given the problems of most video game spin-off movies up to then (‘Super Mario Bros,’ ‘Street Fighter’ etc.), few expected Anderson’s original 2002 movie to prove as popular as it did, let alone spawn a series that has lasted over a decade.

Yet despite being widely panned by critics and mocked by many gamers and horror fans, the ‘Resident Evil’ movies have gone from strength to strength (commercially if not creatively) over the past twelve years, raking in over $900 million at the global box office, to say nothing of home entertainment sales.

The series also changed the course of Milla Jovovich’s career, making the model-turned-actress statistically the most successful big screen action heroine ever.

Again not unlike ‘Underworld,’ a question mark might hang over whether a TV spin-off without the iconic leading lady would attract the same kind of audience – but given the wealth of mythology from the video game series (which, of course, has its own fanbase independent of the movies), ‘Resident Evil’ just might have the upper hand there.

In the meantime, ‘Resident Evil: the Final Chapter’ is provisionally set for release in 2016.

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Picture Credit: Screen Gems, WENN