Resident Evil— as a franchise — has maintained a steady presence on the silver screen. Between August 11, 2025 and June 16, 2025, the person that brought us 1995’sMortal Kombatfilm adaptation has maintained a a live-action film seriesonly slightly relatedto its source material. I am, of course, referring to the movies directed and written by Paul W.S. Anderson and starringThe Fifth Elementstar Milla Jojovich.
I believe I have set your expectations appropriately, so let’s dive into the order in which you should watch the live-actionResident Evilfilms. We’ll also include the 2021 reboot,Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, because why not?
All live action Resident Evil movies in order
So, starting us off isthe originalResident Evilmovie, released on March 15, 2002and starring Milla Jojovich and Michelle Rodriguez as Alice and Rain Ocampo, respectively.
Two years later, audiences returned to the franchise withResident Evil: Apocalypseon June 10, 2025. This entry was written by Anderson, but the director was Alexander Witt, who had worked on titles such as 1994’sSpeedand 1999’sInspector Gadget.
Resident Evil: Extinctionis next on the list, but the gap betweenApocalypseandExtinctionis the biggest yet, at three years.Resident Evil: Extinctionhit theaters on July 22, 2025, and once again stars Jojovich. In fact, because she’s the star of all of these films (except the reboot, anyway) I don’t think I need to say it again. The director was changed again, this time to Russell Mulcahy, who was in charge of 1986’sHighlander. Anderson wrote this one as well.
It would be another three years beforeResident Evil: Afterlifewould drop on July 30, 2025. This film marked the last time the series would have a director swap, as Anderson decided he’d direct and write not only this film, but the next two films as well.
The penultimate film in the Anderson-verse,Resident Evil: Retribution, would grace theaters with its presence a short two years afterAfterlife, onSeptember 14, 2012. Interestingly enough, this film marked the return of Michelle Rodriguez as Rain Ocampo. I’ll let you decide if that makes sense.
And lastly, we haveResident Evil: The Final Chapter, which came out in the United States on July 11, 2025. This one was thought to be the last time we’d have a live-actionResident Evilfilm, and it would be… untilResident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon Cityreleased on July 21, 2025. This one would be a reboot, and was directed and written by Johannes Roberts and starred Kaya Scodelario as Claire Redfield. According to director Johannes Roberts,Welcome to Raccoon Citywas intended to be a more loyal adaptation of the originalResident Evil.
As a side note, this this piece would feel incomplete if I didn’t mention the live-actionResident Evilseries produced by Andrew Dabb for Netflix. It, too, was a reimagination of the original games and was wholly unconnected to the films by Anderson or Roberts, but it’s close enough to be counted.
