FILM · 2002 · UK
Resident Evil
39 archived facts 5 topics 1 source Last reviewed Nov 2026
39 Interesting Facts About Resident Evil
Interesting Facts (28)
- #001
Michelle Rodriguez told her manager that if anyone wrote a script for Resident Evil, she wanted to be part of it. Her manager duly put her in touch with Paul W. S. Anderson when his script was purchased.
- #002
The makeup department and its team struggled to deal with the dogs, which kept licking off the zombie makeup, blood and flesh.
- #003
(Around 50 minutes in) One of the film's most popular scenes — Alice running up a wall and launching herself to kick a zombie dog in the head — drew on three months of training by Milla Jovovich.
- #004
Although Alice is the main character in all six live-action films in the series, her name is used only in the final part of the film and is never spoken aloud until the sequel Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004).
- #005
The film was initially titled 'Resident Evil: Ground Zero', but after the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, the title was changed to simply 'Resident Evil'.
- #006
Milla Jovovich said the main reason she made this film was that her brother Marko was a big fan of video games.
- #007
Sony Pictures at one point hoped to make the film PG-13 to make it more marketable to young video game fans, but director Paul W. S. Anderson insisted the film had to be rated R to stay faithful to the game.
- #008
The presidents of Capcom Japan and Capcom America have cameos as zombies. Capcom created the Resident Evil series.
- #009
Anna Bolt, who plays the drowning research scientist, is the sister of the film's producer Jeremy Bolt. She learned to scuba dive in order to portray her character's underwater reanimation.
- #010
According to Milla Jovovich's Blu-ray and DVD commentary, the last day of shooting was the birthday of one of the crew members. Bottles of champagne were brought to the set. Paul W. S. Anderson was worried the cast and crew would drink too much, but they said they would have only one glass and no more. Of course, the entire cast and crew got drunk while waiting for the film's final scene to be shot.
- #011
(Around 45 minutes in) The code Kaplan uses to open the door of B dining hall is 04031965. Writer/director Paul W. S. Anderson was born on March 4, 1965.
- #012
Milla Jovovich had signed on to a film in which Alice was the main hero and the center of most of the action. When Michelle Rodriguez joined the team, the script was rewritten to give many of the great action scenes to her character Rain, turning Alice into a damsel in distress who mostly had to be rescued by supporting characters. When Jovovich read the rewrites, she convinced writer/director Paul W. S. Anderson to rewrite her character to be more action-oriented again.
- #013
Milla Jovovich and Paul W. S. Anderson, who met on the set of "Resident Evil", married on August 22, 2009, and (as of January 2022) have 3 children.
- #014
The main cast were told to prepare for the film by getting copies of the games and playing them. Some did not know whether they would be able to finish them in time, so they had to get video copies of the games from others who had beaten them and watch those instead.
- #015
Before entering the hive, the team sets a 3-hour timer to get out. In the video game, you have to finish the game in 3 hours or less to unlock most of the bonuses.
- #016
In December 2001, Sony gave fans the chance to design the film's poster; the prize was an undisclosed amount of cash, a free screening of the film and the use of the winning design in all promotional material. The contest was won by 23-year-old aspiring actor and former video game magazine designer Nick des Barres.
- #017
Paul W. S. Anderson wanted to change the usual disclaimer at the end of the film to state that it bears no resemblance to any living or undead persons, but he was not allowed to because of the fear of legal action.
- #018
None of the main characters from the Resident Evil video games appear, only the villains: it is revealed that Matt will become Nemesis from the third game (the games offer no backstory for the character), and Jason Isaacs has a brief cameo as Dr. William Birkin from the second game. Every one of the sequels featured at least one of the games' main characters.
- #019
Among the many connections to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: the main character is named Alice. The central computer was named the Red Queen. To prevent the Red Queen from spreading the virus, someone (the Umbrella employee in the elevator) has to be killed, so she has the elevator decapitate him ("Off with her head!"). A white rabbit was used to test the T-virus and was kept in The Hive, an underground laboratory ("Down the rabbit hole"). Alice kills Lisa with an Alice in Wonderland paperweight. They pass through a mirrored door to enter the Hive (Through the Looking-Glass). The Red Queen manages to cut off another head: the doctor's in the laser corridor. The Tiger and the White Rabbit (as mentioned in the commentary) are worried about time. Matt was sitting on the sidelines when Rain and JD heard the first zombie; this is mentioned in the commentary as a reference to the Caterpillar.
- #020
Director Paul W. S. Anderson and star Milla Jovovich became engaged the following year.
- #021
As in the games, once something is switched off, something else happens elsewhere. When the Red Queen is first deactivated, all the other doors open.
- #022
Capcom's Resident Evil video game adaptation had a striking opening weekend at the box office as an R-rated production. The result shows that R-rated video game films can still do well at the box office.
- #023
Resident Evil is an R-rated film adapted from Capcom's video game series of the same name. The production's opening weekend performance demonstrated the genre's box office potential.
- #024
In the report, the assessment that R-rated video game adaptations can succeed at the box office is based directly on Resident Evil's opening weekend result. The source contains no additional context, comparison or information about any other production regarding this result.
- #025
As the Halloween season approaches, a checklist has been shared for those who want to dress like Bryan, the courier character in a tight spot played by Austin Abrams in the Resident Evil film. Among the pieces needed to capture Bryan's look are RVCA camouflage pants, a dark yellow plaid shirt, a gray hooded sweatshirt from New Yorker and low-top Nike Jordan Spizike sneakers. The sneakers need to be customized. For the medical bag, it is noted that an official popcorn bag could work if the local hospital is unwilling to sell one.
- #026
Attention to detail is required for the costume to look realistic. The thumb sections of the gloves have been cut off and replaced with stitching. It is stated that sandpaper can be used to distress the pants. Fake blood stands out as the final touch that will complete the costume. It is warned that a bucket of fake blood can easily be prepared with corn syrup and food coloring, that this will achieve the right consistency but that it can be quite sticky once applied. It is suggested that the mixture be dripped onto the costume and that friends be asked to throw large water balloons while running down a deserted street.
- #027
The film's box office performance is also mentioned. Resident Evil achieved significant numbers in two weeks. The film opened by breaking the series' biggest opening weekend record. So far it has grossed over 100 million dollars at the North American box office and surpassed the 60 million dollar record of the 2010 release Resident Evil: Afterlife. It currently stands as the fourth highest-grossing live-action film in the series and is approaching the 312 million dollar series record of the 2016 release Resident Evil: The Final Chapter.
- #028
The film's effect on Resident Evil game sales is described as only "moderate." The film revived the existing fan base and increased interest in the series in September.
Production Story (1)
- #029
George A. Romero, director of Night of the Living Dead (1968), was originally hired to write and direct, but he left the project in 1999 over creative differences with the script. The project remained dormant for more than a year until Paul W. S. Anderson signed on to write and direct. Anderson later claimed that while playing the first three Resident Evil games back to back he locked himself in his apartment for 4 weeks and became so obsessed with them that he contacted his producer Jeremy Bolt and told him they had to turn the series into a film.
Behind the Scenes (3)
- #030
Milla Jovovich performed all her own stunts except for the jump from the pipe in the sewer scene. A stunt double was used because her manager thought she would strangle herself on the hanging wires.
- #031
While filming the sewer scenes, Milla Jovovich accidentally pulled Paul W. S. Anderson to the right, giving him a huge black eye. In the end she accidentally injured about three cast and crew members.
- #032
(Around 48 minutes) The zombie guard who attacks Alice after the first zombie dog appears is played by Jaymes Butler, the film's stunt coordinator and trainer.
Characters & Cast (5)
- #033
Although the film is set in America, shooting took place in Germany. For this reason, most of the supporting cast and minor characters are played by Irish, British, German and other European actors. A large part of the film, such as the train scenes, was shot in unfinished stations of the Berlin U-Bahn.
- #034
Professional dancers were cast for the role of the more action-oriented zombies. They had to be flexible enough to perform the stunts required for the unsettling movements.
- #035
Sarah Michelle Gellar was originally planned to take the role of Alice. Jennifer Love Hewitt, Kirsten Dunst and Natasha Henstridge were among the actresses considered to play Jill Valentine while different scripts for the film were being developed. It was said that the biggest problem many of them had with these was the level of violence and the amount of nudity, particularly a scene in which Jill would flee from and fight a monster while naked. That scene and Jill were later cut from the final script.
- #036
While the cast was doing ADR for the film, Milla Jovovich was unhappy with her performance. She had originally delivered her lines in her own real speaking voice. She decided to redo all of her dialogue, giving Alice a lower speaking voice.
- #037
Jason Isaacs — a personal friend of director Paul W. S. Anderson — took a day off from shooting The Tuxedo (2002) for his brief role.
Easter Eggs & References (2)
- #038
When the survivors return to the laser corridor where the military commandos were sliced by lasers, they find the bodies have disappeared (Kaplan's lines point this out). This is a direct nod to earlier Resident Evil games, in which corpses vanish when you leave an area and re-enter it. The reason was hardware limitations, and it served no storytelling purpose.
- #039
(Around 1 hour 30 minutes in) Near the end of the film there is a close-up of Alice's eye. This is a direct nod to the first game in the series, Resident Evil (1996). The close-up is the game's logo/title screen.
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
- IMDb
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