Ever since the first opening jump scare of the RESIDENT EVIL movie series way back in 1996, audiences have been obsessed with this long-running zombie franchise. Sure, there are a ton of games out there to enjoy, but the series has consistently expanded with a series of animated films, a live-action action series starring Milla Jovovich, and more.

In fact, it’s possible more people associate RESIDENT EVIL with the Jovovich movies than even the games. With that series now concluded, it’s time to start a RESIDENT EVIL film series for a new generation. And that’s exactly what we’re going to get with the upcoming RESIDENT EVIL: WELCOME TO RACCOON CITY.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! RESIDENT EVIL: WELCOME TO RACCOON CITY will open in movie theaters on November 24, 2021. In other words, this year human families still get turkey, and zombies will eat people.

In this RESIDENT EVIL trailer, Claire Redfield (Kaya Scodelario), a character originally introduced in the game "Resident Evil 2," is looking into the aftereffects of research by the Umbrella Company, which pulled out of company town Raccoon City, leaving the place as a husk of a community. In fact, anyone who has played that first video game sequel will recognize many images in this trailer, which are drawn straight from the game. But we suspect there are a lot of twists and secrets to discover for all audiences.

The movie takes significant inspiration from the first two "Resident Evil" games, both of which have fairly simple plots — at least on their surface. No spoilers follow, but for those who don't know, the first game focuses on an elite police unit as it weathers encounters with zombies and monsters in a mansion. The game "Resident Evil 2" follows two different characters as they encounter zombies and monsters in Raccoon City, the home of the police squad.

As characters start digging deeper into the origins of the zombies and monsters, things get more complicated in a hurry. The events all generally revolve around the evil Umbrella Corporation, and the scientific experiments performed by parts of the company.

The film series starring Milla Jovovich offered viewers a pretty loose interpretation of the game events. It doesn’t take original movies very long to leave the game story behind almost completely. While that’s fun, WELCOME TO RACCOON CITY aims for a much more faithful retelling of the RESIDENT EVIL story. So expect lots of zombies, lots of evil scientists, and lots of military personnel just trying to survive.

The official studio description of the new movie is:

Once the booming home of ​pharmaceutical giant Umbrella Corporation, Raccoon City is now a dying Midwestern town. The company’s exodus left the city a wasteland…with great evil brewing below the surface. When that evil is unleashed, the townspeople are forever…changed…and a small group of survivors must work together to uncover the truth behind Umbrella and make it through the night. Returning to the terrifying roots of the massively popular RESIDENT EVIL ​franchise, fan and filmmaker Johannes Roberts brings the games of the billion dollar franchise and the most successful video game adaptation in history to life for a whole new generation of fans.

This is a terrific cast filled with familiar faces working alongside newcomers. WELCOME TO RACOON CITY stars Neal McDonough of MINORITY REPORT as William Birkin, ANT-MAN AND THE WASP’s Hannah John-Kamen as Jill Valentine, CRAWL’s Kaya Scodelario (seen above) as Claire Redfield, THE EXPANSE’s Lily Gao as Ada Wong, and BLADE’s Donal Logue as Chief Brian Irons, plus many more.

The RESIDENT EVIL reboot is written and directed by Johannes Roberts, known for 47 METERS DOWN (above), 47 METERS DOWN: UNCAGED, and THE STRANGERS: PREY AT NIGHT. In other words, this is a guy who knows what he’s doing when it comes to horror movies that are both scary and fun.

Between this and the new HALLOWEEN movie, Fall 2021 is going to be a fun season of new beginnings for fans of classic horror franchises. Our fingers are crossed that we'll see a few images or a new RESIDENT EVIL movie trailer soon. They can’t keep this one secret for much longer!

Want to know more about the history of movies based on video games?

All images courtesy of Capcom, Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures.