I found an interesting article from before the first Resident Evil movie came out

[Guest]

The same tragedy happened when the stupid producers of the Nightmare series chose Rachel Talalay's ridiculous freddy's dead script over peter jackson's the dream lover script, which resulted in creating the crappiest sequel in all the nightmare series !

Jackson's script was said to be called A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Lover, and the supposed concept was that Freddy had become so weak in the dream world that teens made a game out of going into the dream world and beating up Freddy. But when Freddy regains enough power to take a boy's father hostage in the dream world, the boy must go there one last time to save his dad. In the final draft of the film, Alice and Jacob are seen briefly moving away from Springwood during the montage at the end of the film.

[Deathlygasm]

The same tragedy happened when the stupid producers of the Nightmare series chose Rachel Talalay's ridiculous freddy's dead script over peter jackson's the dream lover script, which resulted in creating the crappiest sequel in all the nightmare series !

Damn I never knew that! Sure it didn't sound like a slasher movie concept but it was something different and could have been the best film since The Dream Warriors (imo the best film in the series)

Halloween also had the same thing happen with the 6th film with so many rewrites happening on set

[ronin_akikage]

So regarding a Resident Evil film, what did everyone actually want?

[Darkmoon]

1 - Better characters?
2 - If you use a character from the games, try and make them look like the character (Claire, Chris, I'm especially looking at you) or act like that character. Or be anything at all like the character other than having the same name.
3 - A tighter story that doesn't have battleship sized plot holes (all the plants are dead...so how are we breathing? And where did all those plants come from in the next movie?).
4 - A main character that we actually believe could die. There's no way Alice will ever die. Clones, sure, but Alice Is Immortal - kinda takes away from the drama.
5 - Less creepy naked scenes...seriously, she's your wife dude, why did you blue tac two tea towels to her chest?

And of course...

6 - People who've played an RE game in control.

[ronin_akikage]

Just to ask questions for the sake of conversation....

1. Better characters: Would this imply more flesh-out characters? Would having characters that go through a story arch be more appealing and desirable? (for example, many characters on the Walking Dead go through personal story archs as their characters develope)

4. Characters that can die: With introducing characters from the video game, would you be comfortable with them dying at all? Obviously, characters such as Chris Redfield, Claire Redfield, Leon Kennedy, etc cannot die (or shouldn't) due to their storyarchs. Also, how would characters such as this be addressed? Would you be able to be gripped by a film involving major characters, knowing they couldn't die?

Again, I found these points interesting to ask additional questions. I agree with all your points. They are valid. I just want to address issues with the films, find out what other fans think, and what they thought was interesting with previous drafts and released info for the rejected scripts. What is it about the characters in Resident Evil 1 that were interesting? How do you see the five main characters (Chris, Jill, Barry, Rebecca, Wesker) in the first game brought to life for a live action version? Would anyone change any aspects of the characters or maybe add on anything?

[TheBatMan]

I've never understood the mentality some film makers take with regards to the source material. In terms of Resident Evil, why not just make a straight up adaption of the game? Why does the plot need to be altered? If you go to watch a film based on one of your favourite games, surely it is because you expect it to be the same and very much like the game it is based on?

For the Romero script, how does the story benefit with Chris not being a STARS member? For the McElroy script, why does Wesker need to be from an asylum?

I remember Paul Anderson responding to criticism of his pitch during pre-production on Resident Evil by saying it was pointless to do a straight adaption of the RE1 plot as everyone would know what would happen. But his unique writing talents made his own take on Resident Evil even more boring and predictable. Within 10 minutes of the film you knew Alice would be the only one to make it out alive.

He really missed a trick with his film as his was the first major zombie film of the new millennium which was soon followed by a host of others that really re-established the genre to the point of overload. It was released a few months before the vastly superior 28 Days Later.

Even the horror genre has risen in stock over the last ten years with this whole found footage lark. But when was the last time anyone made a really cool and traditional haunted house movie?

For me, my take on a Resident Evil film would be a straight up adaptation of the first game with a few extra elements thrown in such as flashbacks about the people working at the mansion that led up to the accident. In terms of realism I would probably drop the large spiders, giant sharks and mutated plants but I'd certainly have the Hunters at least.

As long as you nailed the casting and characters of the STARS members I fail to see where you could go wrong for this.

Cole Hauser's character in Pitch Black would be my Wesker for sure. He has the personality and looks nailed in that film. Just add sunglasses.

Surely if you were to make an original story based on Resident Evil it would be purely because you are attempting to add a canonical story to the already established franchise. But Anderson's Resident Evil films were clearly never meant to be that.

[Deathlygasm]

I feel they coulda altered the plot around to make it better for movie run-time then made an adaptation of the first game. Here's my list of what coulda been done.

1. Make the plot more similar to the game but also change a lot of things to keep us guessing.

2. As Darkmoon said make the characters more like the personalities of their game counterparts not ONE character is remotly like they're in the game. The only one I like better is Carlos played by Oded Feir (I think thats how you spell it) He's a badass.

3. Hire someone who is actually a huge fan of the games but also has great film experience wether it be independent or major.

4. ACTUALLY watch your own fucking movies before you make a sequel the amount of terrible continuity errors in the 4th and 5th movies are terrible. Does anyone remember that in 2 they said Leon was dead?

5. Don't just throw shit in from the games because it looks cool (Chris and Wesker fighting like rivals even tho they never met.) Also random elements to the story that make no sense and are never explained (the plagas)

[ronin_akikage]

Well, I guess for the sake of argument, I'll retort with my own viewpoints. Again, I agree with you on your points, but as a writer myself and someone that has studied film for 13 years, I've begun to differ in terms of how to adapt something.

I agree that Chris Redfield being a civilian didn't add anything different. But you also have to look at what the theme of Romero's story is. You have to take into account certain changes he (and his co-writer) took, how they may have been inspired by different elements, and Romero's traditional writings in the past. I will make a little list:

1. Theme: Romero's theme is of course one of militarianism and government research. He seems to elaborate more on themes left over from Day of the Dead, of miltary vs science. By Chris Redfield being a civilian, he now have a counterpoint to the military industrial complex, the corporate business world, and scientific advancement. Chris represents the small-town guy, the rural Pennsylvanian trapped between Pittsburgh and Philly -- two ever-expanding urban jungles. Several scenes set him up as a person still in touch with nature. With the simple life. Even as the Raccoon area is destroyed he asks the pilot to circle around so he can hav one last look before all of this is taken away. Wesker represents a cold rational, logic-based thinking. Chris represents emotion-based thinking. Even Raccoon is treated as a small town in this, overtaken by big government. Most of the film takes place in a high-tech lab (representing progress), while the rural element (the mansion) is vacant and decaying. Even the subfloor of the house has been modified for purposes of the Umbrella Corporation.

2) Character Changes: Romero is known for having various ethnic races fill roles in his Dead films. So, having an almost caucasian cast would have been boring for him. Now we have Mohawk Redfield (which actually ties very well with his script character), an African-American Barry Burton (which I can only assume would have been a role for Ken Foree), Asian-American Ada Wong, and a few others. Rodriguez, Sullivan, Marini, etc. I can only assume, that as he was writing this, the footage he saw of the game probably had Chris in his alternate outfit with the jeans and brown leather jacket, and it just clicked in his head. Chris and Jill being together could have been either his or his co-writer's decision. We don't even know if it survived past the first draft.

3) Monster change: I can only assume that the change with the Hunters was probably due to the footage he watched. Romero was quoted saying that a friend's son played the game and footage was recorded to watch. Based on the Hunters in the script, the son could have been playing the Saturn version, because the Hunters are eerily similar to the Ticks in that version.

So that's my thought on Romero's script... Next, I will tackle the subject of the loose adaptations....

[ronin_akikage]

So regarding all these loose adaptations...

I agree that I don't understand why they can't follow the basic concept of the story. But I also sympathize with some changes, because they are needed. In my opinion, an adaptation needs to follow the themes, the basic plot, the basic characters, and make those understandable to the audience through visual and audial elements. For example, Silent Hill did not follow the same plot or characters, though there were similarities, but it honored and respected the themes of the video game. Its only true downfall was that it failed to be truely scary. But it looked and felt like the game.

Now, for Resident Evil, the max time afforded would probably be 120 minutes. And that is pushing the limit. Most studios seem to want a nice, lean runtime of 110 minutes (including credit sequences). That runtime probably allows an extra showing each day. More money. Now, the least amount of time to set up the plot that would be exceptable would be 20 minutes. Most films use a 25-30 minute build up before the end of the first act where our characters would be in deep trouble. So this leaves us 90 minutes to follow the first game's plot. (I'm subtracting 10 minutes for credits, as it would have a large number of special effects, whether CGI or practical) The first 20 minutes would have to explain the set-up, who our characters are, allow us to know who they are (because the general audience might not know these characters - not everyone plays video games), and we have to explain logically why they are going into the mountains. So, 90 minutes to follow the game. That's a brisk pace to adapt something like Resident Evil... too fast, and you can't develope atmosphere. It will feel too much like an action film. Also, most films break down into about 3-5 minutes per scene. Not always, but that is an industry average. So you have 18-30 scenes to represent the game. And now that I've set that up.....

You have to ask yourself: what would I fill that 90 minutes with? How much does a character's story fill that slot? What monsters and how many do I show? How do I advance the backstory of the mansion? What gameplay elements do I show? There are no truely wrong answers, and these are questions to ask yourself.

To me, Resident Evil is difficult to adapt. If we go off the first game... The characters are paper-thin. Barry Burton and Albert Wesker are the only characters that change throughout the story. Most of the secondary characters are already dead (so no build up to death scenes), the setting doesn't make sense in logical terms, the virus has too many radically different effects, and the backstory is only known through journals and various papers. Now you must make decisions that creators didn't have to make in 1998.... which version of the story do you adapt? (original, Director's Cut, REmake, Umbrella Chronicles, Deadly Silence, etc) Also, the Barry/Wesker traitor plot is known to the fans. You also have to decide which characters live. While its canon that Chris, Jill, Barry, Rebecca, and Brad all survive (and Wesker), Barry and Rebecca don't have major appearances after the first game. So do you have them live to be canon? Do you kill them off during the film to draw the audience in emotionally? Which monsters do we absolutely need in order to have the Resident Evil feel to the story?

Now, all of this I ask, not to be rude to any of the posters here, but as a thinktank. To allow you to ask yourselves how you would truely adapt something. These are the questions I have asked myself over the years. These are the questions I will be asking myself this year when I begin my own writing project. Films are business. They have a format they follow. They have to be profitable. And they have to same elements that make them profitable. That doesn't mean that Resident Evil needs to be a cliche action film, but even the most uncommercial films have a certain format they follow. Horror films have to fill you full of dread. And terror. A horror film has to draw in an audience to its plot, and its characters. We have to relate with these characters. We have to believe that the scenario could actually happen. There has to be a reality to it. Some common link with reality that this could happen. Just throwing the characters in a mansion, having them run around for 90 minutes fighting every monster, then having Wesker finally appear and say he betrayed them is not an interesting film.

[ronin_akikage]

FYI, Rombie... I am currently inquiring with an agency about obtaining copies of all the drafts of previous scripts regarding Resident Evil 1. I am waiting to hear back from them, but I gave them the basic information needed to check with Constantin Films. Its gonna cost me some cash to get all them (in print), but once I do, you will have A LOT more information for your article. Also, I'm sure the fans are gonna want to know what we missed out on. I also inquired about further drafts by Romero, so we will see what they can actually get. I have no idea what its gonna cost me for them all, but being realistic, probably say $200.

[Rombie]

I will be happy to see anything you can dig up. They're only second best to being able to talk to the writers themselves but specifically if some scripts come out of the woodwork never officially known about would even be interesting. All we have currently is Romero's draft and an early Anderson draft, so I'll take any new info I can get. Keep me posted

[Lanzagranadas]

So regarding a Resident Evil film, what did everyone actually want?

1- A film director
2- A true script
3- Consistent plot
4- Deep character development
5- Non bastardized version of characters from games
6- Anything that may make people feeling like they are watching a "Resident Evil" movie.

[Rombie]

Article is up at Biohaze, hopefully people will find out some new details.

http://www.biohaze.com/specials/removie.html

[Bianca]

Article is up at Biohaze, hopefully people will find out some new details.

http://www.biohaze.com/specials/removie.html

This is an amazing article, Rombie. Very well-researched, straight to the point and extremely insightful. It made me really sad, too, in a bizarre way. I remember all the speculation involved with the movies, all the excitement, anger, frustration, etc. that came with it, especially in the early 2000s. Internet nostalgia.

Sigh. Oh, could've been...

[fishboil]

James Woods is my first choice as Wesker.