While the previousResident Evilmovie series from director Paul W.S. Anderson seemed to go on forever, we could be looking at a one-and-done deal forResident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City. Filmmaker Johannes Roberts came into the reboot as a big fan of the original video games and sought to restart the series from scratch with a new take that better embracesResident Evil’s horror roots. The result is a movie that’s much more familiar to fans of the video games, which includes characters like Avan Jogia’s Leon Kennedy stepping into the spotlight.
Unfortunately, thecritics have not been too kindtoResident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City. Whether that’s because the video game references are lost on those who haven’t played them, or just because mainstream filmgoers just happen to prefer theirResident Evilmore action-heavy, many are banding together to express their displeasure in this movie. That’s not to say it’s all bad, as many longtime fans of the franchise saw it as the movie they’d been waiting 20 years to see. But what does this all mean for the future?
Bad reviews won’t necessarily damn a movie’s chances of getting a sequel ordered, although they certainly don’t help. What matters most to a studio is how much money a project will be able to bring back in for them to make good on their investment. Inits opening weekend, the movie pretty much fell in line with its projections, and now the studio will have to decide if it’s worth risking a worse turnout by developingWelcome Back to Raccoon City.
If you askAvan Jogia, he’s refusing to even think about a sequel at this time. The actor spoke about the movie and his role as Leon Kennedy in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, dishing on how exciting it was to suit up as a character he’d spent hundreds of hours playing as when he was a kid. When asked directly about Leon’s future in a potential sequel, here’s what Jogia had to say.
“I’m a 15-year vet, so I know full well the procedures that are in place before anything happens. I think we’re just happy to have a film out for the fans that represents the horror aspect of the games a little better — or just at all. So it’s nice to get this film out to the people who likeResident Evil, and that’s about as far as I’ve thought even though I love the Leon character. Luckily,Resident Evilhas so much lore to pull from. They’re not short on story going forward, if they want to make this or make that. They’ve got a rich tapestry of stuff to pull from.”
If we read between the lines, Jogia is hinting that he won’t bother thinking too much about Leon’s future until he knows for sure a sequel will really happen. Still, by teasing everything else that happens with Leon ingames likeResident Evil 4, Jogia also hints that there’s plenty of directions to go for the character’s possible future. Time will tell if we will ever see Jogia back in the role of Leon.
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon Cityis now playing in movie theaters. You can read the full interview with Avan Jogia atThe Hollywood Reporter.
