ResidentEvilAfterlife

Yesterday brought unofficial reports that Sony Screen Gems was planning on delaying the release of Resident Evil: Afterlife from August 27th, 2010 to an undetermined date in 2011. However, RE:A star Milla Jovovich was quick to jump on Twitter to state that the delay was possible, but not official. Well, now it's official. The fourth film entry in the Resident Evil franchise now has a January 14th, 2011 debut lined up.

While a release date delay for a horror movie typically indicates a studio has a lemon on their hands, that might not be the case with the latest from Paul W.S. Anderson. Jovovich's tweet on the matter said that, were it to occur, the delay would be because post-production on the 3D rendering could not be completed by the required July deadline. So now that the delay has been confirmed, it is a safe assumption that dealing with the added dimension for the first time is what caused the slip.

Coincidentally enough, this new release plan puts RE:A up against The Cabin in the Woods, the horror movie co-written by Joss Whedon and directed by Cloverfield's Drew Goddard that also settled on the 01/14/11 date after its own delay in converting the film to 3D. By that time the number of screens in the US capable of displaying 3D movies will have drastically increased, but even still, don't be surprised if either film shifts forward or backward for some box office breathing room as the date gets closer.

In the mean time, Screen Gems has given the original August date to the Paul Bettany starring Priest, an adaptation of the holy-man-kills-vampires comic of the same name.

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?