EXCLUSIVE: Resident Evil screenwriter talks about making hit horror film with Zach Cregger

The Resident Evil franchise returned to theaters with filmmaker Zach Cregger’s blockbuster adaptation. Featuring an original story co-written by Cregger, Resident Evil stars Austin Abrams (Weapons) as Bryan, a medical courier who must fight through Raccoon City during a zombie outbreak to deliver a mysterious package.

In an interview with Digital Trends, screenwriter Shay Hatten discussed his experience co-writing Resident Evil, expressing his love for the video games, Cregger’s work, and Austin Abrams’ performance in the movie.

This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

Digital Trends: To get started, I think this is the question on everyone’s minds: what was it like co-writing the script of this amazing film with Zach?

Hatten: It was a blast. You know, I’ve been a fan of Zach for such a long time, and we met many years earlier, actually, really early in both of our careers. So it was really exciting to finally get to collaborate on something. And honestly, it’s the most fun I’ve ever had writing something. He just has an infectious energy, and just bouncing off of each other made the whole thing such a blast. And hopefully that comes through in the movie.

Digital Trends: Yeah, I know Zach is a huge fan of the Resident Evil games, and I really felt that passion was palpable in the final film. And it’s just a blast to experience. And though Zach is a huge fan of games, he initially received a lot of backlash from fans for how [the film] deviated from the source material with his more original story.

Instead of characters like Leon [Kennedy], we followed this completely new character, Bryan. Considering all the high expectations, did you feel any pressure when trying to write the script with Zach?

Hatten: First and foremost, we love these video games so much. So that really was our goal: sitting down and writing this movie was asking ourselves, “Okay, we’re fans of this franchise. What would we love to see in a movie based on these games?” And really the answer for us was something that captures the spirit of the game. So the energy of survival horror where your back’s up against [the wall]. And even if you’re controlling a character in the game, who knows what they’re doing?

You, as the player, are somebody who would not be adapted to surviving the situation. So we just wanted to capture that feel, put it in the movie, and our feeling was, as long as it’s exciting to us because we’re fans of the game, hopefully that feeling will radiate out. And when people see the movie, they’ll feel the same way.

Digital Trends: Yeah, absolutely. For me, the experience of watching the film, it all felt like one huge video game brought to life on the screen. The protagonist, in my opinion, he’s basically what you get if an actual player was just thrown into all that chaos. He doesn’t really know what he’s doing. He’s scared out of his mind. It’s one huge obstacle after another. Like, I think that really, it just really makes up for one exciting and engaging journey.

Hatten: That was the goal. I know, at least for myself, if I was in this situation, I would die probably within mere minutes. So Bryan does way better than I would. But nevertheless, that was what we wanted to capture was that feeling of putting an audience in the mindset of, “How would I actually do in this situation?” Probably just as badly as this. And you would be making such mistakes that constantly snowball into bigger problems coming at you five minutes down the road.

So, to me, that’s what makes him a relatable character and hopefully makes the movie something that audiences can kind of see themselves in, even though it is this crazy larger-than-life situation.

Digital Trends: Absolutely, and the film spent pretty much the entire runtime on Bryan. So what was it like writing this character on the script? How did you come up with all these different ideas? And overall, what do you think of Austin Abrams’ performance as the character?

Hatten: I love Austin so much in this movie. We didn’t have anybody specific in mind when we first started writing the script. But now, having seen the movie with Austin, it truly is impossible for me to imagine anybody else embodying this character because I think he just nails the everyman role so well.

He is goofy, he’s bumbling, he makes mistakes, but he’s so endearing because we know that we would make the same mistakes in that situation. And he just encapsulates all of that so well. And that’s the writing, the character, it really did come about naturally, because we truly just started writing this script at the beginning and just wrote all the way through from point A to point B, and it really was just that. Every step, we were writing things that we thought were funny and were making us laugh.

So we were like, “It’s funny if he doesn’t know how to use a gun, and then he actually shoots his own car, and he trips over the electric fence.” So it really just came about that way. And, you know, there wasn’t a lot of intentionality to what we set out. It just developed and was making us laugh. So we just ran with it. And that’s ultimately how the character was formed.

Digital Trends: Yeah. I mean, like, I was like a laughing, like pretty much like throughout the whole film, too, like he’s, just like a good in the film. He’s got this whole Ash from Evil Dead vibe to him, and I think this really makes him even more relatable because it’s like everyman taking on the zombie apocalypse. It was one of the best times I had in the theater all year.

Hatten: Oh. That’s awesome. I’m happy to hear you say that. I love Evil Dead so much. Sam Raimi is like one of my gods. He’s the tonal North Star to just nailing the balance between scary and funny. And I think that is something that we were trying to capture here, and it all goes back to him.

Digital Trends: Right. I’m really curious to know what parts of the story did you and Zach write. Did you divide up certain parts of the story? What was the plan there?

Hatten: No, we truly wrote this whole movie. It’s a writing process unlike any we had really done before. But we essentially would just get on FaceTime, and we would be like, “Okay, we’re at this part of the story. What’s going to happen now?” We kind of chat through what’s going to happen next, and then we would each kind of take a section of it.

We would do it ourselves, write our pieces, and then come off mute and kind of read what each other wrote. So it really was just a collaborative experience. But I don’t think it was ever really like dividing scenes and then going off on a road. Everything was written, run-and-gun in the moment, face to face.

And I think that was kind of what I ascribe to the movie, having kind of this chaotic energy that it does, because the whole time we were just like, “Okay, keep going, keep moving, keep moving. What’s funny?” And we were just entertaining ourselves throughout the writing process. So hopefully, that’s the energy that stays captured in the final movie.

Digital Trends: I sure was entertained. From what I saw, Resident Evil leaves the door open for a sequel film. From what I’ve read, Zach doesn’t really have any plans to direct a sequel. At least not in the near future. But do you see yourself returning to write a script for a follow-up?

Hatten: I don’t know. I think, at this moment, it remains to be seen. Right now, I feel very happy that we crafted a movie that I feel like stands on its own. And that’s one of the things that I’m really proud of what this movie is. Though it does imply a larger future for this world, the direction things could go, I think it also does stand on its own as a standalone movie.

So maybe there is something more there. Maybe this was just kind of a beautiful one-off adventure. I think it just would depend on if there’s an idea there that feels worth doing and could still feel fresh, and not like a rehash of what we did with this one.

Digital Trends: That’s really great to hear. So all in all, what was your favorite part about writing this film? Was there a specific scene in the story that you enjoyed writing the most?

Hatten: I really enjoyed writing all the stuff in the third act with the hospital in the lab because…the movie’s been in a very kind of contained tone for so much of it, and that was where it kind of cut loose, and the energy just kind of goes totally bananas.

There were moments writing that where we would stop and be like, “Is this too crazy?” Literally, how are we going to film this? How is this going to be actualized in the movie? But we just never pulled ourselves back. So, that’s what I’ve really fond memories of is writing those moments, wondering how we’re going to do them, and then seeing the final movie and being like, “Zach’s pulled it off because he’s a genius.”

Digital Trends: I particularly like the whole hospital sequence in the third act. It really gave me huge Ghostbusters vibes where it’s just [Bryan] climbing up the stairs. He’s got that Slimer zombie.

But I also really like the thematic depth of when he’s going through the maternity ward because a lot of the story was about him overcoming his fear of fatherhood. And with all those baby zombies bursting out, it really just forces him to really confront his deepest fears in the most visceral, physical way. And I just think that it was just amazing to watch.

Hatten: Oh. That’s awesome. I love hearing you say that because honestly, that came about very naturally, where initially we were like, “Oh, this guy needs a backstory. He should be talking to his girlfriend on the phone in the beginning of the movie. They should be talking about this big decision they have.”

But it wasn’t initially our plan to have all that baked so thematically into the rest of the movie, and then there just kept being opportunities where we were like, “He can encounter this girl who he’s supposed to help, and then things go awry, or getting to the maternity world.” So it was kind of like the whole movie naturally develops this theme about his fears of fatherhood, and I’m really happy with how it all came through in the end.

Digital Trends: Again, I think it just came out really well. And now that Resident Evil is in theaters, do you have any other projects that you’re working on that you’re really excited for fans to see?

Hatten: Oh, I’ve been collaborating with James Wan on this script called The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil. That’s a remake of a Korean action thriller. And I’m really excited for that one because he’s a genius. So I’ve wanted to work with him for a long time. Other than that, I think that’s the main thing that comes to mind. Resident Evil has just been the thing we’ve been building for so long, and I’m just happy it’s finally out in the world for people to see.

Resident Evil is now playing in theaters.