Resident Evil 1996 Screenplay
Hey everyone, I hope you're all good!
I wrote a Resident Evil movie script that adapts the 1996 game, but as a working, production-ready screenplay. I love the original 1996 game, but I've always been frustrated by how Hollywood turns the franchise into a superhero action fest. So, I wrote a feature length script to prove you can adapt the original lore into an airtight, terrifying, 90-minute survival horror movie. Think Dawn of the Dead meets Aliens. It follows the classic lineup (Chris, Jill, Barry, Rebecca, Wesker) trapped in the Spencer Mansion, but I wanted to make sure it runs like a realistic cinematic experience.
Since the main sub doesn't allow external links, I can't post the script directly here. But I’d love to share it with fellow RE fans! You can find it on my profile page or at r / residentevilscript
Here's a little sample below.
Thank you so much!
...
ACT 1 - SCENE 3
EXT. ARKLAY MOUNTAINS - CLEARING - NIGHT
The rain has stopped now. The CHOPPER hovers low, its searchlight cutting through the mist like a laser beam. The trees bend under the force of the CHOPPER’S rotors
BRAD (INTERCOM)
I see smoke! Three o’clock! Down in that clearing!
The searchlight hits a patch of wreckage. It’s the BRAVO TEAM CHOPPER.
INT. HELICOPTER - CONTINUOUS
WESKER
Put us down. Now!
EXT. ARKLAY FOREST - CONTINUOUS
The Alpha Team hits the ground before the skids even touch the mud. CHRIS, JILL, BARRY, JOSEPH and WESKER move out in a 360-degree security perimeter.
The silence after the roar of the engine is deafening.
CHRIS
Bravo! It’s Alpha!
No response.
BARRY examines the cockpit of the CRASHED CHOPPER. He finds KEVIN DOOLEY (Bravo team).
BARRY
Captain. It’s Dooley. He’s... This wasn’t the crash. It’s... Something got into the cockpit?
JOSEPH is twenty yards out, his flashlight beam dancing over the tall grass. He spots something metallic reflecting in the weeds.
JOSEPH
Hey! I’ve got something!
JOSEPH holsters his weapon and jogs towards whatever he’s spotted. The rest of the team turns their heads.
JILL
Joseph, wait! Stay with the team!
JOSEPH reaches down and grabs a handgun from the undergrowth. He tugs. The gun doesn’t come free.
He pulls harder. A SEVERED ARM, still clad in a Bravo Team sleeve, rips out of the brush. It’s jagged at the shoulder. Raw bone and sinew.
JOSEPH
(Gasping)
Oh god...
GROWL.
A guttural vibration seems to come from the earth itself.
JOSEPH freezes. He slowly turns his head to his left.
Two yellow eyes ignite in the darkness. Then four. Then six.
He looks to the right. Another four pairs.
They don’t blink. They’re moving closer. Slowly moving into position.
JOSEPH
(Stepping backwards, voice cracking)
Oh no. No no no!
Before he can bring his weapon up, a CERBERUS (zombie doberman) leaps from the darkness, its skin peeling off in wet ribbons.
CRUNCH!
It latches onto Joseph’s throat with a sickening snap.
JILL
JOSEPH!
The clearing explodes.
BAP! BAP! BAP! BOOM! PFT! PFT!
The team opens fire, but the dogs are fast, blurring like shadows. JOSEPH is dragged into the darkness, screaming as his flashlight spirals into the undergrowth before going dark.
WESKER
Fall back! Everyone back in the chopper!
They turn and look up. The CHOPPER is already airborne.
The Huey is thirty feet in the air, tilting away.
We see BRAD’S terrified face through the glass as he points and screams something inaudible before peeling out over the treeline.
BARRY
BRAD! YOU COWARD! GET BACK HERE!
A CERBERUS leaps at CHRIS and JILL.
PFT! PFT!
WESKER shoots it mid-air, knocking it off course.
WESKER
MOVE!
The team turns and runs. They fire at the dogs chasing them but it’s no use. They’re not putting them down, and they’re not outrunning them.
Chris stops running, turns, and aims.
CHRIS
QUICK! RUN! I’LL COVER YOU!
He spots one CERBERUS coming in low. He fires, dropping it with a headshot.
He keeps firing into THE PACK.
Another CERBERUS hits him from the side. They both vanish into the darkness.
No one sees.
JILL, BARRY, and WESKER keep running.
Through the fog, the massive, monolithic silhouette of the SPENCER MANSION looms.
A flash of lightning illuminates it.
For a split second, it looks less like a house, and more like a mausoleum.
WESKER
GO! NOW! RUN FOR THAT HOUSE!
JILL, BARRY, and WESKER keep running. Behind them, the sounds of snapping jaws and heavy paws are gaining.
They scramble up the stone steps of the porch. JILL and BARRY hit the massive oak doors first.
BARRY
OPEN UP! God damn it! OPEN THE DOORS!
WESKER isn’t far behind. He grabs the handle and slams his shoulder into the doors. They give way. The trio tumbles inside.
WESKER slams the doors shut and drops the barricade.
Silence.