After captivating the global box office with Barbare ($46 million on a modest $4 million budget), Zach Cregger followed up with another smash hit, Evanouis. This critical and commercial juggernaut, a nightmare starring Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, cost $38 million to produce and raked in an impressive $270 million worldwide. These two back-to-back successes firmly established the director's highly effective and incredibly bankable potential.
While Cregger is currently gearing up to release his Resident Evil reboot, Warner Bros. has, predictably, greenlit Gladys, a prequel entirely dedicated to the terrifying aunt portrayed by Amy Madigan. However, fans eager for another Zach Cregger film should temper their expectations, as the writer/director will have only minimal involvement in the project. Cregger also expressed his apprehension about Evanouis becoming a franchise exploited to exhaustion.
Speaking to Deadline during the promotion of Resident Evil, Cregger clarified that he wouldn't be directing the Gladys prequel, nor would he be penning the screenplay. Instead, he's entrusting writing duties to Zach Shields (Krampus, Godzilla vs Kong, Godzilla 2: King of the Monsters – a rather intimidating resume –) and will simply serve as a consultant on the initial story concept.
“Actually, Zach Shields is writing Gladys. I developed the story with him, but he’s the one writing it.”
Not without a touch of irony, given Warner's appetite for monetizing its brands, Cregger seized the moment to take a jab at studios obsessed with the commercial exploitation of every success:
“If you’re just trying to say, ‘Hey, here’s a hot IP, I think we can shoehorn something into it and put it in theaters,’ then you’re starting on the wrong foot, and I think you’re probably going to make a bad movie. For me, the guiding star should rather be: ‘Do I love this story? Do I love it enough to spend a year of my damn life telling it?’”
For Zach Cregger, there's no question of becoming a director of interchangeable sequels or endorsing shared universes that feel like cheap knock-offs. The filmmaker reiterated that once his dive into the Resident Evil universe is complete, he intends to steer clear of major franchises to focus exclusively on original projects tailored to his unique vision and obsessions.
“I’ve never been approached by another franchise. Well, maybe I have, but it will never happen because I’ve been very clear: I won’t risk it. I’m doing [*Resident Evil*] and that’s enough for me. I’m not going to tackle other franchises, simply because I’m a writer and I want to write what I want to write. I don’t want to write something where I constantly have to juggle different elements to meet certain requirements. I just want to enjoy myself.”
The film Gladys is slated for release on September 8, 2028, in American theaters (and very likely September 6, 2028, in France). Meanwhile, Cregger will be busy: in addition to launching his Resident Evil on September 16, 2026, he is already developing the sci-fi film The Flood, which he will write and direct. He is also penning the screenplay for Siren Head, the cinematic adaptation of the Internet legend created by Trevor Henderson, which will be directed by Brian Duffield.