Czech production on Resident Evil is officially underway. The highly anticipated horror reboot from Weapons and Barbarian director Zach Cregger filmed in Litoměřice over the weekend, marking the first confirmed shoot for the project in Czechia. The U.S. production utilized the Litoměřický tunel, a disused former railway passage beneath the town’s medieval walls, for scenes reportedly among the film’s darkest sequences.
Litoměřice Town Hall confirmed that filming took place on Friday, Oct. 10, with parking restrictions in the area as Stillking Films, the Prague-based production company handling the Czech shoot, coordinated the logistics. The brief but high-profile shoot drew attention as it signaled the start of full-scale production on the new Resident Evil, one of the year’s largest foreign film projects in the Czech Republic.
Town officials described the operation as extensive, with large-scale lighting setups and vehicles sealing off the tunnel from public view. Despite the disruption, local authorities thanked residents for their cooperation, emphasizing the prestige of hosting a globally recognized franchise.
Producer Lukáš Škoda of Stillking Films said that Czechia was chosen for its distinctive architecture and versatile filming locations.
“The filmmakers decided to realize the current installment in the Czech Republic after an extensive series of location scouts,” Škoda told Litoměřice officials. “The former railway tunnel in Litoměřice offered the perfect setting for one of the film’s darkest scenes.”
Cregger’s vision for a darker, game-inspired reboot
Under the helm of Cregger, Resident Evil represents a major revival of the long-running franchise for Sony Pictures and Constantin Film. The director, whose 2025 hit Weapons drew acclaim for its blend of tension and social commentary, has promised a more grounded and suspenseful approach to the material—one that reconnects with the tone and atmosphere of Capcom’s original video games.
Rather than revisiting the ensemble-driven format of the Paul W. S. Anderson films that starred Milla Jovovich between 2002 and 2016, Cregger’s reboot centers on a single protagonist navigating a viral outbreak. The story follows a courier tasked with delivering an antidote to the deadly infection ravaging the city, echoing the survival-horror roots that defined the early Resident Evil games.
Austin Abrams, best known for The Walking Dead and Cregger’s Weapons, leads the cast as the unnamed courier. He is joined by Zach Cherry (Severance), Kali Reis (True Detective), Johnno Wilson (Twisted Metal), and Paul Walter Hauser (Black Bird, Richard Jewell). Cinematography is handled by veteran Dariusz Wolski, known for his collaborations with Ridley Scott on The Martian and Prometheus, as well as the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.
Cregger co-wrote the screenplay with Shay Hatten (John Wick: Chapter 4, Ballerina). The project is being produced by Robert Kulzer of Constantin Film alongside Roy Lee and Miri Yoon of Vertigo Entertainment, with Sony’s TriStar Pictures overseeing production and PlayStation Productions serving as a co-financier.
The Czech Republic continues to attract global productions
The brief shoot in Litoměřice marks the first major on-location scene for Resident Evil, but principal photography is expected to continue through January 2026, primarily in Prague and surrounding areas. The production ranks among the largest international shoots in the country this year alongside the Prime Video series Ride or Die and Netflix’s The Age of Innocence, with an estimated local expenditure exceeding several hundred million Czech crowns.
The Czech Audiovisual Fund has allocated Resident Evil approximately CZK 191 million ($9.1 million) in film incentives, suggesting a total domestic budget near CZK 764 million ($36 million). The production joins a slate of high-profile international horror and sci-fi projects filmed in Czechia in recent years, including Nosferatu, The Crow, Blade Runner 2099, Foundation, Interview with the Vampire.
Stillking Features, based at Prague’s Barrandov Studios, is managing the local production. The company has a long history of facilitating large-scale international projects, including Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Spider-Man: Far From Home, and Snowpiercer.
The use of the Litoměřický tunnel, a relic of 19th-century railway engineering, adds a distinctive Czech element to the film’s aesthetic, though the film’s actual setting has yet to be confirmed. Once part of a rail line beneath the old town, the tunnel has become a popular site for private events and filmmakers seeking atmospheric underground settings. For Resident Evil, it provided a ready-made environment to evoke the claustrophobic dread central to the franchise’s identity.
Cregger’s adaptation aims to relaunch the Resident Evil brand for a new generation of audiences following the unsuccessful 2021 reboot Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City. With its return to game-inspired storytelling and practical location work, the new film seeks to restore the franchise’s balance of suspense, world-building, and survival horror.
Resident Evil is scheduled for theatrical release on Sept. 18, 2026.
Lead photo: Zombies in Litoměřice courtesy DepositPhotos.com / Prague Reporter
