Back in October of 2015 I got to visit the picturesque landscape of Cape Town, South Africa. The coastal cosmopolitan city hosted green mountain crests that overlooked the ocean, delicious Indian food, colorful houses painted in bright corals to highlight the direction to the downtown mosque— and lions, giraffes, cheetahs and gazelles only a short drive away. While I got to experience all of that and more in a trip that I’ll always cherish, I was brought there to visit a very different type of set outside of the city. Separate from the picturesque, lively and lush views of Cape Town,Resident Evil: The Final Chapterwas filming post-apocalyptic zombie attacks in a fallen-apart warehouse, which ran totally counter to the beauty nearby. It was all dirt, soot and blood. And the stars wouldn’t like it any other way.
The Final Chapteris the sixth and “final” installment in the video-game-turned-film franchise. It continues to follow the survivors of an apocalyptic viral event that was purposefully implemented by an evil corporation. The survivors, led by Alice (Milla Jovovich), fight back against both the Umbrella corporation and their fallout zombie creations in an attempt to keep the human race from global extinction.
While on set we were shown zombie prosthetics, massive modified war vehicles, a decrepit warehouse that was lit by fire and also got to sit down with Jovovich and her co-stars,Ali Larter(aResident Evilvet) andRuby Rose(a newbie to the franchise, but not a newbie to the films and video games themselves) to discussThe Final Chapter. What they described was a return to the nasty glee of the original action-horror film from 2002. And in talking to both that film and the final film’s director,Paul W.S. Anderson, that’s exactly the effect that he wanted.
In addition to full interviews with Anderson and Jovovich, here are a few takeaways from our interviews. May Jovovich and Anderson (who are also married with children) feel completely at peace with how the franchise wraps up this winter. As peaceful as the fog that lifts off of Cape Town itself.
Resident Evil: The Final Chapterhits theaters June 28, 2025. The official synopsis is below.
Based on Capcom’s hugely popular video game series comes the final installment in the most successful video game film franchise ever, which has grossed over $1 billion worldwide to date.
Picking up immediately after the events inResidentEvil: Retribution,Alice (Milla Jovovich) is the only survivor of what was meant to be humanity’s final stand against the undead. Now, she must return to where the nightmare began – The Hive in Raccoon City, where the Umbrella Corporation is gathering its forces for a final strike against the only remaining survivors of the apocalypse.
