The Resident Evil franchise began as a popular video game series in 1996 and was adapted into a film series starting in 2002. The first Resident Evil movie was directed by Paul W.S. Anderson and starred Milla Jovovich and Eric Mabius. It was produced and distributed by several film companies and was marketed towards the existing fan base of the video game series. While the movie was financially successful, it received mixed reviews from critics who felt it lacked substance beyond style.

2. History
The Resident Evil franchise
began as a series of video
Games from Japanese
Game developers Capcom in
1996. After the success and
Response from the video games,
in 2002, the movie adaption of the games was
released, starting a series of 5 (soon to be 6) Hollywood
movies.

3. • Before the release of the
First movie, 4 resident evil
Video games had been
Produced.
• The combined
sales of approximately 18.5 million copies, the video
game series had shown it’s popularity and potential for
success as a film series.

4. Preproduction
The companies that were involved
In the production of Resident
Evil were Davis-Films,
Impact Pictures and Constantin
Film Produktion which had all
previously made a fair amount of
drama and horror films, giving an insight to the
potential audience that may be attracted to the films.

6. Distribution
Pathé Distribution was the
UK distributors for the first
Resident Evil film and covered
all formats for the film,
Cinema release, DVD and TV.

7. Director
Director Paul William Scott
Anderson from Newcastle, UK,
Was chosen to direct this film
With only a TV movie as directing
Experience. Resident Evil was
Anderson’s first big film and helped
him to grow as a director as he later went on to direct
films such as Alien Vs Predator and also Death Race.

8. Stars
• Milla Jovovic was cast as the
Main protagonist in the Movie
After showing her capabilities in
Sci-fi and action films through her
Role as Leeloo in the Fifth Element.
• Eric Mabius was cast as another
protagonist for the film as he had previously acted in
action films such as ‘The Crow’ and also horror films
like ‘Black Circle Boys’

9. Marketing
The Resident Evil Movie had the
Backing of the Video Game’s
Audience behind it, helping the
Knowledge of the target audience
And making it easier for Pathé
To target the film at people as they
Knew exactly who they were directing the film towards
from the start.

10. Posters
• The teaser shows eyes and
arms, the name of the film
and the tag line “A secret
experiment. A deadly virus.
A fatal mistake...” It shows no
actors/actresses so the only hint at what the
film is about comes from the arms and the unhuman eyes at the bottom.

11. The main poster has the two main
Characters of the film behind
A crudely stitched red and white
Cross. These are the colours of
Umbrella corp. the source of the
Infection. The poster also has the
Tagline of “survive the horror” which linked with the
tagline from the teaser poster gives the idea of Zombies
as Survive the horror + Virus = Zombies

13. Promotion
Before the release of the film,
some of the actors and the
director attended the convention
comic con to talk with the
fans and answer questions.

14. Promotional Stunts
The first Resident evil movie did not
use any form of stunt or project
to help promote the film, however
for the forth film Zombie hands
were placed around Madrid out
of drains and vents. Also in London
before the release of the sixth video game, a butcher
shop was set up selling edible “human meat” to help
it’s promotion.

15. • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKmf0N-emmQ
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jdo4oDqctoQ

16. Opening weekend gross
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
$17,707,106
$2,773,160
$2,130,817
$2,106,126
$1,582,914
$1,255,191
$1,192,559

17. Audience
With the film being based on a
Video game, the target audience
Would have been those who had
Played the original games. These
People would have been in their
Teens when the game cam out so I
Can imagine the target audience would have been
people in their late teens to early twenties.

18. Rating
Resident evil is rated 15, making
It perfect for the target audience
Teenagers and those in their
Early twenties. This was the initial
Rating for the movie when it was
Released in cinemas and it stayed the
Same for when the film was released on VHS and DVD.

19. Critic Reviews
"The term “All style and no
substance” has, over the years,
become something of a tired
cliché, but in the case of 2002’s
Resident Evil, it just about
sums the movie up perfectly.“
"Rodriguez proved in Girlfight that she's better than
this, but I suppose you have to take any payday you're
offered when you're not yet established."