Resident Evil Director Officially Confirms Austin Abrams Almost Died in Movie’s Best Scene

The insane levels at which Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil has been made keep getting bigger and more insane, as the director revealed another shocking detail about the 2026 horror flick. Resident Evil sees Zach Cregger reuniting with Weapons star Austin Abrams as a medical courier running from Point A to Point B as he descends deeper into the nightmare.

However, the director revealed that Austin Abrams almost died filming the movie when a 150-pound blood bag fell inches away from his feet. Cregger explained that during the sequence when Abrams is running through a street, several infected fall from buildings and explode all around him. The scene was heavily choreographed, but a crane let go of the 150-pound blood bag early. Check out the clip below:

In an attempt to make the shot more realistic, Zach Cregger avoided CGI and used real, 150-pound body bags filled with blood that were released from cranes at height. Although Austin Abrams almost died while filming the movie, Cregger went on to say that the scene was “f***ing worth it”.

Resident Evil Director Called That Scene “Worth It”

A still from Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil | Credits: Columbia Pictures

After confirming that the scene in question almost killed lead star Austin Abrams, director Zach Cregger revealed (via SlashFilm) that these were the moments when he felt truly grateful to be a director and turn the idea from his head into a living reality.

According to the director, the impact of the blood bag would have killed Abrams “if he had been one step to the right”. However, Cregger recalled that he decided to keep the death-defying scene in the movie.

[The shot is] in the movie, so it’s f***ing worth it. I was pretty stunned. That’s what’s so great about making movies is you have this scene, you have this amazing idea in your head, and then you just have all these people help you realize that idea and immortalize it on the screen.

Well, it seems that Zach Cregger’s gamble with the body bags worked, as Resident Evil has been deemed Cregger’s finest movie yet. The film’s box office performance just goes on to show how far the director has come in his filmography.

Resident Evil Becomes Zach Cregger’s Biggest Box Office Opening

A still from Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil | Credits: Sony Pictures Releasing

The much-hyped horror flick was released on September 18, 2026, in theaters across the world. Fans of the movie as well as the video game franchise rushed to theaters to see Cregger’s take on the beloved Resident Evil franchise, and the director did not disappoint.

Per Box Office Mojo, Resident Evil opened with a domestic opening of $60 million, breaking a personal record for Cregger, whose Weapons had reached a domestic opening of $43 million (via Box Office Mojo).

The 2026 flick has also reached a worldwide collection of $206 million as of October 1, 2026. Although it is yet to break the worldwide collection of Weapons (which sits at $270 million), it does seem that Resident Evil might just become Cregger’s highest-grossing movie of all time.

What did you think about Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Resident Evil is currently screening in theaters worldwide.