Resident Evil film gossip

Indistinct deathly murmurs abound about some movement on the next Resident Evil film.

Russell Mulcahy of Highlander II infamy is apparently now attached to direct the third film, and it's to be known as Resident Evil: Extinction, not RE: Afterlife, which was supposedly the name of the third script that seemingly outgoing director Paul W.S. Anderson had penned.

Either way, people are still suggesting that events of the third will still dovetail into the already confirmed fourth script, which relocates the action to Japan.

All very exciting, obviously. Milla Jovovich will reprise the role of Alice, according to the same report - which stems, it would appear, from either Variety or Empire - although Movies Online contradicts this with a rumour that Jovovich will be replaced by a Canadian lass called Hailey Birnie because of a scheduling conflict.

Production will apparently begin this year. Capcom had no comment to offer. Gosh, wouldn't it be nice if anybody knew anything about this?

Anyway, whatever they do will of course follow on from the excitement of Resident Evil 1 and 2. Yours truly actually liked the first one, which saw Jovovich wake up in a scary house and then descend into an underground zombie and cliché-infested research base; the second began as things in Raccoon City got worse, but I thought it was so rubbish I turned it off after about half an hour and never went back to it.

Hopefully RE3 will be a return to form, assuming minds are made up about key issues like where it's shot. Apparently it's in either Mexico or Australia. GAH.