FILM · 2007 · GERMANY
Resident Evil: Extinction
27 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
27 Interesting Facts About Resident Evil: Extinction
Interesting Facts (14)
- #001
In the video games, Claire Redfield has long been searching for her brother Chris. When the film's main plot was planned, the real purpose of the trip to Alaska was to be Claire's reunion with her brother, since in the fourth game, Resident Evil - Code: Veronica (2000), they finally meet in a cold region (Antarctica). However, the Chris Redfield subplot was cancelled and the journey to Alaska was rewritten as a simple search for a safe haven; Chris would appear in the next film, Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010). This has almost become a series tradition, since both Jill and Claire were to appear in the first and second films respectively, but neither appeared until the following film.
- #002
The original script included some flashback scenes depicting a trial at the International Court in Geneva. Umbrella executives were found guilty of genocide, but the trial ended abruptly when an army of the undead entered the courtroom.
- #003
Milla Jovovich was not interested in making a third Resident Evil film because of her frustration with Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004). However, after reading the script she changed her mind, and some changes were made to it.
- #004
(At around 6 minutes) There are 86 dead Alice clones filling the trench at the beginning of the film. 'Eighty-six' is common slang for getting rid of something, including people.
- #005
Alice's nightmares indicate that she has a slight psychic connection with her clones, since some of her memories were transferred to their subconscious. This element becomes important for the sequels.
- #006
The White Queen was originally planned to appear in the first film but was cut from the script. She was to be the Artificial Intelligence controlling not just the "Hive" but Umbrella's main headquarters.
- #007
The opening scene, recreating a scene from the first film, was scripted to be longer. In addition to finding the picture of the married couple, Alice was to discover the other clues seen in the first film, namely the handwritten note or the drawer containing the weapons. She would then enter the Red Queen's laser room. Because of the pacing, the scene that appears in the finished film was shortened. It is notable that Alice looks at the statue after seeing the picture and hearing a violent wind. This is the only hint that the scene is merely a simulation and not an exact copy of the first Resident Evil film. The original Alice asked "Hello" after returning to the hall where the statue is located.
- #008
The idea for the two Kukri blades belongs to Milla Jovovich's fight trainer on Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004), Ron Balicki.
- #009
One of several additions made in later drafts of the script was the desert gang's first attack. Originally Alice would discover an abandoned television station, watching old footage on its screens depicting the world's destruction by the global infection, and her narration would have begun at that point. When the script was rewritten this scene was cut and replaced with the attack scene; the only remaining hint is Alice meeting the unbalanced family in a run-down television station, and her narration was moved to begin after the title card.
- #010
Claire Redfield's role in the film is quite different from the games. She leads a convoy of survivors through the dead desert and commands several military-type people, suggesting some kind of military past. In the games she holds a university degree, receives basic combat and firearms training from her brother Chris Redfield, and is on a mission to find him.
- #011
The film was initially planned to be shot in the Australian Outback but was changed to Mexico.
- #012
In interviews, Milla Jovovich said that writer/producer (and her husband) Paul W. S. Anderson initially intended for Alice to transform into some kind of half-monster, but she disliked the idea and it was changed. The film's early storyboards also reveal very different versions of the scenes featuring Alice clones, probably based on the first scripts: rather than Umbrella making Alice clones and having them pass through traps in their underground laboratory as in the finished film, the storyboards show dozens of them in pods instead of cocoons, and one of them falls to the ground and encounters an unseen creature in a giant laboratory. These were probably also changed at Jovovich's request, since they would likely have involved more nudity, with the clones walking around naked while fighting monsters; she had already changed the ending of the first film for similar reasons (where Alice emerges from the hospital completely naked).
- #013
The large number of crows attacking while perched on power lines is a tribute to Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds (1963).
- #014
This is the first appearance of Albert Wesker, one of the game series' leading antagonists from the first installment, in the live-action Resident Evil films. It is also the only film in which the character is played by Jason O'Mara; because O'Mara was unable to reprise the role, Shawn Roberts took it over for the last three films. Although Wesker always wears his signature sunglasses (even indoors), the difference in appearance between the actors is not that pronounced, and this can be explained by the genetic experiments Wesker conducts on himself almost constantly.
Production Story (1)
- #015
The first draft of the script reveals K-Mart's real name: Elizabeth Jane Case. The novelization gives her birth name as Dahlia Julia Mancini, which explains a little better her discomfort with it.
Easter Eggs & References (9)
- #016
Alice says she managed to get into the Umbrella servers to learn about the satellite movements. The original script contained unused scenes in which Alice accessed the Umbrella files and revealed that her real name was not Alice Abernathy but Janus Prospero. This had already been mentioned in the merchandise for the previous film, Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004), which published a fake newspaper clipping containing details about Alice, such as that her family began searching for her after she disappeared and that Alice was only a code name.
- #017
Director Russell Mulcahy's main insistence on this film, and its biggest difference from the previous films, was that it be shot in bright sunlight rather than at night.
- #018
Jill Valentine (Sienna Guillory) from the previous film, Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004), is not mentioned. Guillory was offered the chance to reprise her role but had to turn it down because of a scheduling conflict with Eragon (2006), so the character was later cut from this sequel. She returned to the series as Jill in Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010).
- #019
Angela Ashford (Sophie Vavasseur), who was rescued in the previous film Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004), is not mentioned. The first script explained that shortly after the events of the second film, Angela was killed in an attack by Umbrella soldiers. Although this was left out of the film, the novel explains that Alice inadvertently killed her while she was under Umbrella's control. This could actually explain more clearly Alice's motivation for keeping away from the other survivors and staying clear of Umbrella's satellites.
- #020
Although Alice implies it by saying "I knew your sister" (the Red Queen from Resident Evil (2002)), the White Queen is never specifically named throughout the entire film. This continues the first film's tradition of referencing the characters and places in Alice in Wonderland, where the Red and White Queens are sisters.
- #021
The original script implied that the cause of the global T-virus outbreak was rats spreading the infection, and it appears that these rodents living mostly underground helped them survive. This seems to reference the game series, in which it was the G-virus rather than the T-virus that caused the viral outbreak in Raccoon City in Resident Evil 2 (1998); because the G-virus was accidentally dumped into the sewers, rats picked it up and spread it to the surface. Although this subplot was discarded, the film's final scene still includes a shot of rats living in Tokyo's sewers.
- #022
The film's working title was Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010), which was later given to the fourth film in the series.
- #023
(At around the 7th minute) In the graphic at roughly the 6th to 7th minute of the film, Raccoon City is clearly Detroit, Michigan. The Detroit River and Belle Isle are plainly visible, as is the crescent-shaped industrial park to the north (to the left in the film). The previous film often used Toronto for Raccoon City, and the city was located in Pennsylvania, roughly where Philadelphia would be.
- #024
(At around 55 minutes) Contrary to what is believed, the third film's chronology is certain. Although the trailers and official website reveal that the story takes place five years after the Raccoon City incident, viewers need not rely on promotional materials. The amount of time that has passed since the start of the global infection is in fact also referenced in the film itself. When the convoy enters a run-down Las Vegas, they observe that it is covered in desert sand. Alice's lines note that for 5 years there has been no one left to clean the city.
Deeper Meaning (3)
- #025
The name of the monstrous mutation Dr. Isaacs transforms into in the final scene is never spoken in the film, but those who have played the video games will recognize it as the Tyrant, the final boss of Resident Evil (1996) and the remake Resident Evil (2002). In fact, the 'T-virus' represents the Tyrant virus in the games, because it gave birth to the creature with the characteristic external heart and a long claw on one hand. In the games the claw does not extend into tentacles; that is a distinguishing feature of the Nemesis monster in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (1999), but technical limitations prevented it from being realized in the earlier adaptation Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004).
- #026
Only two crows were used for the entire crow attack sequence. The rest of the crows were added with special effects.
- #027
The trademark double-helix injections (representing D.N.A.) now contain two liquids instead of one. One of the spirals holds the blue liquid (the T-virus) and the other the green liquid (the antidote). The mixture is said to have the capacity to grant the T-virus's regenerative properties without succumbing to the horrific side effects (turning into an undead).
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
- IMDb
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