Predicting Netflix's Next 10 Smash Hit Shows
4. Resident Evil
Released: Sometime in 2021
After the success of Castlevania and The Witcher, there is clearly a feeling that video games might make better Netflix series than they ever did movies. And now Netflix have got their hands on what remains, for better or worse, probably the most successful video game-to-movie franchise what with its six movies taking $1.2 billion on a combined budget of less than $300 million.
A complete reboot rather than a spinoff from the movie franchise, the Netflix Resident Evil series is set around the town of Clearfield, the shady Umbrella Corporation and the disused Greenwood Asylum. "Twenty-six years after the discovery of the T-Virus, secrets will start to be revealed at the first signs of outbreak," reads the series' official synopsis.
No talent has yet been announced for the show, but when a reboot was suggested as a movie rumours attached Brenton Thwaites (Titans) and Samara Weaving (Ready Or Not) to play siblings Chris and Claire Redfield.
Resident Evil has an enormous existing fanbase, and the games have had something of a return to form recently with the innovative Biohazard and the acclaimed remake of Resident Evil 2, while the ongoing success of The Walking Dead franchise shows that zombies and prestige TV make a great match.
If nothing else, a story about living in the world after a viral pandemic is likely to remain topical for a while yet!