Some filmmakers make movies, some game designers make games, and Hideo Kojima has spent his career refusing to choose a side. The Japanese gaming auteur famously declared that “seventy percent of my body is made of movies,” with influences ranging from Stanley Kubrick and Akira Kurosawa to horror maestro John Carpenter. Having created Metal Gear and championed cinematic storytelling in gaming, Kojima is hardly a casual moviegoer, making his take on Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil worth a closer look.

Cregger risked tampering with a beloved franchise, but the box office suggests the gamble paid off, making Kojima’s reaction all the more intriguing.

Hideo Kojima has finally shared his verdict on Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil, and the legendary game designer found himself reliving the terror of his own gaming days. In a post on X, Kojima revealed that he initially had little interest in the film but decided to watch it because Cregger was behind the latest adaptation. What followed apparently took him straight back to 1996.

“From there, it’s a relentless barrage of classic horror techniques, terrifying situations, and jump scares that never lets up until the very end,” he said.

Kojima clarified that the film was not so much an adaptation of Resident Evil as an attempt to recreate the experience of playing the game with a controller in hand. The original PlayStation release from 1996 clearly left its mark, as Kojima compared himself to Bryan, the character in Cregger’s film, repeatedly getting a game over and shouting expletives at the screen. Apparently, some gaming frustrations never die.

Meanwhile, Kojima has also been busy crossing paths with Hollywood talent beyond the horror genre and he made sure to mention that in the very post. He interviewed director Alejandro González Iñárritu for Gizmodo Japan while the filmmaker was in Japan promoting Digger, and even met Tom Cruise, who plays Digger Rockwell, during the promotional run. Kojima also revealed that he was happy to have picked up a program for the film.

Hideo Kojima has had quite the year at the movies, catching films like The End of Oak Street and now weighing in on Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil, as his own video game adaptation is making its way.

Hideo Kojima is preparing to bring the strange, haunting world of Death Stranding to the big screen, but fans should not expect a scene-by-scene retelling of the game. Co-produced by Kojima Productions and A24, the live-action film is being written and directed by Michael Sarnoski, known for Pig and A Quiet Place: Day One. Rather than retracing Sam Porter Bridges’ journey, the movie will explore an original story in the fractured universe.

With the script approved by Kojima and filming planned for 2027, the adaptation is moving closer to production, with Iceland and Northern Ireland among the locations being scouted. Meanwhile, Death Stranding Isolations is set to expand the universe through animation on Disney+ in 2027. Kojima is also developing Physint, a cinematic espionage game featuring Bill Skarsgård, showing that his ambitions to blur the line between gaming and filmmaking are far from over.

Bill Skarsgård Lands Lead Role in Hideo Kojima’s New Action-Espionage Game PHYSINT

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