One of the most disastrous video game adaptations of all time is looking for a new audience. Five years after bombing at the box office and earning universally negative reviews, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City is about to get a new streaming home.
An adaptation of the beloved sci-fi/horror Resident Evil video game series, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City is officially coming to Hulu next month. It will be available to watch on the streaming platform beginning on Feb. 23, joining the other installments of the franchise starring Milla Jovovich.
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City aimed to reboot the film franchise in 2021. The seventh live-action Resident Evil movie features an all-new cast that includes Kaya Scodelario as Claire Redfield, Hannah John-Kamen as Jill Valentine, and Robbie Amell as Chris Redfield. Welcome to Raccoon City mainly adapts the events of the first two Resident Evil movies.
Sony had lofty hopes for Welcome to Raccoon City. Director Johannes Roberts was open about his plans to develop a sequel, which most likely would have adapted the events of Resident Evil — Code: Veronica. However, the franchise immediately hit a roadblock when Welcome to Raccoon City debuted to almost universally negative reviews. The Resident Evil reboot holds an uncovetable 30% approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, indicating exceptionally unfavorable reviews.
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City‘s poor reviews most likely influenced its box office performance. Against a meager budget of $25 million, the film only earned $42 million (according to The Numbers). After bombing at the box office, there was no question that Welcome to Raccoon City had destroyed any chance of building a franchise. Any plans to develop a sequel were immediately halted, and there has been no official talk of reviving this iteration of the franchise since.
Could the Resident Evil Franchise Ever Make a Comeback?
Milla Jovovich in Resident Evil-1Image via Davis Pictures
Despite Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City‘s underwhelming box office performance, the franchise is finding new ways to live on. While the video games have continued to be successful regardless of the movies’ performance, Sony has never fully given up on forming a full-blown film franchise based on the Resident Evil universe. Now, a third iteration of the franchise is officially in the works, marking the eighth overall film.
It was announced in early 2025 that Zach Cregger is developing a new Resident Evil reboot with a tentative release date in the Fall of 2026. Very little is known about the reboot so far, but several cast members have been revealed, including Paul Walter Hauser, Zach Cherry, and Kali Reis. It is currently unknown which, if any, of the video games the film plans to adapt.
Resident Evil fans should be cautiously optimistic about this upcoming reboot, as Cregger has proven himself to be a competent filmmaker in recent years. Cregger is the director responsible for Weapons, one of the biggest surprise hits of 2025. Before that, he found similar success with other horror movies, including Barbarian. Cregger has exactly the right style and tone to make the perfect Resident Evil adaptation after multiple decades and several reboots couldn’t make it work.
If Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil reboot is successful, it could launch the franchise that Sony has wanted for years. The world of Resident Evil is ready to be explored in greater depth; all it needs is the right creative mind to guide the franchise along. With Cregger at the helm, it seems the franchise has finally found that perfect guiding hand.
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City streams on Hulu beginning on Feb. 23.
