Resident Evil: The Final Chapter was further ahead than most people had realised, since Milla Jovovich has just revealed that she was all set to start work on the last instalment of the videogame-adapted zombie franchise. Her continuing fight against the Umbrella Corporation's retro virus will have to wait a while longer, however, because the once and future Alice has gone into extended quarantine. Or rather, she and her husband, franchise honcho Paul WS Anderson, have just learned they're expecting their second baby, which puts Jovovich out of action for a few months.
"This was originally going to be a post to tell you how excited I am about flying to Cape Town to begin working on Resident Evil: The Final Chapter," says Jovovich on her Facebook page. "But… My husband Paul and I just discovered that we are expecting another baby! So after a lot of discussion, we thought it would be in everyone's best interest to wait till the baby is born before we set out to try and tackle a **Resident Evil **movie. Between the stunt work and what will become my ever-expanding belly, we didn't think pregnancy and zombie killing are the best combo! I imagine the only thing I'll be killing in the near future is an endless supply of cupcakes. Yikes…"
She goes on to thank "everyone who has been working so hard on the movie in South Africa already", and says production will resume next summer. A 2016 release had been on the cards, which, by the series' recent form, would have been in a January / February slot. That now looks impossible, so expect, at the soonest, a late 2016 release date. The Final Chapter may even wait out a full year and make its last stand in early 2017, but watch this space for updates. After the crazy ending to the 5th film, Retribution, which showed all manner of zombie monsters loose in Washington DC and the White House under siege, we know you're chewing your fingernails down to the wrist in anticipation.