Post-extinction

Resident Evil: Extinction opens today. Too soon to start blogging about the next one? Co-star Ali Larter doesn't think so (well, I don't know how she feels about blogging): she said at last night's premiere that she's "heard whispers" about the fourth in the series, going on to imply that the box-office returns on this installment would decide. Current projection has it at #1, in the high teens, shooting for $20 million. Anything resembling that would assure a profit on its $45 mil budget; the first two films had opening weekends around $18m and $23m, respectively. (Regardless of whether you'd like to see Ali Larter in Resident Evil 4, I think the fewer people go to see Good Luck Chuck, the better off we all are.)

Director Russell Mulcahy says that as far as he's concerned, Extinction completes the trilogy, but that shouldn't hold much weight.

It's not the first we've heard of it. A couple of years ago, rumors started about a "second trilogy," moving away from Milla's Alice character. Considering the variety of game characters that'd still draw fans, it's not much of a stretch. Larter's mention of it, combined with the high profile she enjoys on Heroes, makes her Claire Redfield a likely lead. The earlier rumors had pointed to Leon Kennedy (he appears in videogames RE 2 and RE 4), citing genre TV standby Jensen Ackles (Supernatural, Smallville, Dark Angel) as 'in talks.'

A script, ostensibly for a fourth film, has been floating around; the project is being called Resident Evil: Afterlife, an earlier working title for the third film. Authored by Josh Friedman (remake experience on 2005's War of the Worlds, and attached to the upcoming Terminator TV show The Sarah Connor Chronicles), it seems to take the series in a new direction; brief plot summary indicates a sort of Bermuda Triangle angle, with a disappeared luxury ship, a scarcity of zombies and mutants, and a mysterious note from a family member (Chris Redfield, if you're keeping score at home). Shades of Silent Hill?

More on this (of course) as soon as I hear it.