New 'Resident Evil' Laughs at Rigor Mortis, Gains Momentum

The Resident Evil well springs eternal. With three movies already under its biosuit (not counting the animated film Degeneration) and more games than I can shake a controller at, I think it's safe to say that RE is the most prolific zombie franchise ever created. It's influence is felt far greater in the video game world than Hollywood, but that has yet to stop Screen Gems from pumping out the undead actioners.

Which brings us the fourth in the film series (the aforementioned Degeneration was a standalone project more in line with the games than the films), titled Resident Evil: Afterlife. Shock Till You Drop picked up on a production report outlining the film's future, which will begin an eight week shoot starting this September with an expected release date of September 17, 2010. Though there is no director attached to the film yet, it's been confirmed that the always appreciated Milla Jovovich will be reprising her role of the fanboy loved Alice, destroyer of all things sans pulse. Also returning will be fanboy bait Paul W.S. Anderson, though as of this moment his duties will be strictly confined to the word processor side of things.

For those ready to jump ship after reading Anderson's name, I say give the Internet whipping boy a break. Yes, AVP squandered decades of banked potential, but he did kick off the Resident Evil franchise with not just its strongest entry, but also the strongest film he's ever been involved with. I also think the man deserves some credit for the success of the first RE, which I'd wager is directly correlated to the resurgence of Hollywood's faith in zombies. That's gotta count for something, right?