Zach Cregger is the latest person to attach himself to the Resident Evil franchise. The writer/director known for Barbarian and Weapons has his next film set to come out this month, and it’s the titular survival horror franchise. It’s old news by now, but it continues to make inexplicable waves even now: Cregger is not adapting a game’s storyline but rather telling his own story within that universe that seeks to show what it’s like to play the games rather than what happened in existing games.

I’ve written about the ridiculous nature of these complaints. Backlash to trailers is absolutely silly, and it’s even sillier when it’s criticizing someone for the angle of adaptation they’re taking. Cregger has spent much of the press tour trying to convince these angry and, quite frankly, foolish fans to even see the movie, and he revealed something very disappointing.

This will be his first and last franchise film. So if the movie is successful and the studio wants a sequel (which Sony will), then someone else will have to write and direct. And to be totally honest, it’s completely understandable that Cregger doesn’t want to deal with this nonsense anymore.

You’ve All Ruined Resident Evil for Zach Cregger

Any time someone attempts to make a piece of art based on something with an existing fandom (books, video games, comics), there is instant, unyielding, and unfair backlash. It is commonplace, but that doesn’t make it any less disappointing. Resident Evil is no different. There seems to be no satisfying them.

Perhaps only partly due to the backlash, Zach Cregger has said he’s done with franchise filmmaking. His first franchise movie isn’t even out yet, and he’s already waving the white flag. “I have never been approached by another franchise,” Cregger said. “Maybe I have, but it would never get to me because I have been very clear that I’m not doing that. I’m doing this, and that’s it for me.”

Franchise filmmaking is a different beast. Cregger has had to explain himself at every turn, and most of the criticisms are downright nonsensical. Setting the movie in modern-day with snow when the game is set in 1998 and rain is, as the director said, a stylistic choice to fit the story.

And to be totally truthful, the only reason Resident Evil 2 is set in 1998 is that the game came out then. It was set in modern times when it was made, and the movie is set in modern times when it was made. The change in weather is a visual flair for Cregger, but complaining about that is even sillier.

“I don’t want to write something where I have to make sure I’m tagging different data points to satisfy X,” Cregger continued. “I just want to satisfy me. And the only reason that I think ‘Resident Evil’ is OK for me to do is because I’m enthusiastic about the games, and I like the story that I thought of with the games, and I’m making it for me. I think this movie is cool, and I hope it checks the fan boxes because I’m a fan and I’m checking my boxes.”

The writer/director has never shied away from the fact that his movie is a love letter to the Resident Evil game series, which he has made clear for a long time that he’s well-versed in. It’s an attempt to capture the feeling of playing the games and being in these situations rather than his attempt at the original story, which he’s said would ultimately be a cheap imitation anyway.

Cregger won’t add this bit, but I will: if he were adapting the original story, everything would be put under intense scrutiny. The events of the plot (which have to be immensely trimmed for a 90-minute movie), the actors portraying the characters, and the dialogue. It would all have to hold up to a beloved classic game, which it can’t.

So, making it an original story around those games is smart, but fans have already written the movie off before it’s even out. No amount of explanation has helped stave off the loud, angry internet mob. And that’s unfortunate, because when the movie is good and does well, Cregger won’t be back for a sequel.