Resident Evil Movie Cut Jokes After Test Screenings

Ever walked out of a horror movie and thought, "That was scary, but why was I laughing so much?" Well, director Zach Cregger faced exactly that with his upcoming Resident Evil film. In a chat with The Hollywood Reporter, he spilled the beans: early test screenings showed people loved the movie, but thought it was too funny. So he did what any horror director would do—he stripped out the jokes.

Cregger knows a thing or two about mixing laughs with scares. His previous films, Barbarian and Weapons, had humor sprinkled in, and he comes from the sketch comedy group Whitest Kids 'U Know. But for Resident Evil, he and co-writer Shay Hatten apparently went a bit overboard with the comedy. "I learned [from test screenings] that people really liked the movie, but they thought it was too funny," Cregger said. "So over the course of my testing, I stripped out as much of the jokes as possible."

And guess what? It worked. Cregger found that not only did audiences enjoy the movie more, but he liked it more too. "A little bit of humor goes a long way in a horror movie, and there's not a single joke I took out of this movie that I miss," he added. Still, as a fan of his WKUK days, I can't help but wonder what those deleted jokes were like. Maybe one day we'll get the "Resident Evil: WKUK Cut"? A fan can dream.

But don't expect Cregger to lose sleep over pleasing every Resident Evil fan. He's well aware that gamers are passionate, and he's not trying to make everyone happy. "If I tried to please everybody, I'd end up pleasing nobody. That much is obvious," he said. "I just have to be okay with people voicing their opinion. I'm a grown-up. When I took this on, I understood what I was walking into."

Part of that understanding means accepting that some fans will be upset about the lack of legacy characters. Cregger's movie tells an original story with no characters from the games. "I'm not putting any of the legacy characters into this movie. So if that is what you love about these games, then you're going to feel a certain way about it," he explained. He even imagines the reaction: "Here comes yet another Hollywood movie, and they're once again not doing Leon and all the characters I was hoping they were going to do."

Despite the potential backlash, the film is expected to be a huge hit. It releases on September 18, with screenings starting a night earlier, and could achieve the biggest opening weekend in franchise history. Cregger has plenty more on his plate, too, including his next movie, the sci-fi deep-space film The Flood, and a Weapons prequel about Amy Madigan's Aunt Gladys character (though he won't direct that one).

So, what do you think? Are you glad Cregger toned down the humor, or were you hoping for a few laughs in your Resident Evil? Will you be checking it out in theaters? Let us know!