Resident Evil (Romero script)

George A. Romero

The "George A. Romero script" was a series of drafts for a proposed Resident Evil film in plans since October 7, 1998. Due to the eventual rejection of George A. Romero as the writer, his screenplay was turned down in favour of Paul W. S. Anderson's movie script.

Plot

The script starts with a biohazard taking place at an Umbrella laboratory underneath the Arkley Mansion in Pennsylvania. Dr. John Marcus alerts the US military before he is attacked by infected creatures. Out in the forest, Chris Redfield spends the early hours of the morning fishing so he can watch the eagles feeding. He notices their refusal to swoop down, and feels he is watched by some unknown creature. He leaves back to his girlfriend, Jill's apartment in Raccoon City. She is unimpressed with his story, to which he explains is the result of him not having been with anyone before. They make love as dawn rises. Outside of town, Chris' ranch is set upon by vicious canines. A ranch worker, Rake, is attacked as he interferes with them while menacing the horses.

At an air base five hundred miles away, S.T.A.R.S. Colonel Albert Wesker receives information from a contact, Holden, about the outbreak. He informs Holden that he has a unit based in Raccoon City, and they will investigate the mansion ahead of the main body. In the morning, Jill is awoken to the alert. As an undercover S.T.A.R.S. operative and Bravo Team leader, she prepares for her mission - simulated numerous times - and leaves without telling Chris. When he wakes up, he sees her enter a HUMMER outside and drive off. Inside the HUMMER are the three other members of the Bravo Team - DiSimone, Russo and Williams. They drive up to the Arkley Mansion, and are instantly attacked by mutanted creatures; Jill escapes while the other three are torn apart. Meanwhile, the S.T.A.R.S. Alpha Team under Colonel Wesker are flying to Pennsylvania from the airbase. With connection lost with their field operatives, Wesker orders a mass-evacuation of the city ahead of their arrival.

Chris leaves Jill's apartment to see the evacuation operation taking place. The National Guard, trying to cover-up the incident, informs the townspeople that an aircraft carrying live ammunition has crashed in the hills. When a sheriff debunks their claims on the grounds that he would have noticed a crash, the evacuation turns more violent. Chris kicks the guardsman in the crotch and races off to the ranch in a stolen jeep. Reaching the ranch, Chris finds that his horses have been violently mutilated. Rake gets his attention, and warns him of the monsters. He directs Chris to the Arkley Mansion in the direction the attacking animal came from. Heading inside to grab his Winchester, he is forced to put down his prized racehorse, Lucky, which barely survived the attack.

Back at the Arkley Mansion, Wesker and eleven other S.T.A.R.S. members are dropped off to continue the investigation. They find Jill's dogtag amongst the body parts and declare her deceased. Chris becomes emotional while hiding in the bushes, but waits for the S.T.A.R.S. team to advance further to the mansion before appearing. An infected dog runs out from the bushes also; Chris' firing gets Wesker's attention. The arrival of more dogs prevents them finding out who is nearby. Rather than run inside, Wesker orders the unit to take out the entire pack, which they excel at. However, one of the members, Joseph Frost, trips and is killed by one of the creatures. Barry Burton, a comrade-in-arms of Wesker, saves the Colonel from another. Picking up a strange electronic device he dropped, Wesker has the team move onward. Chris examines the body of one of the dogs. Its nametag - "Spike #26" - has the Umbrella logo on. Before he can investigate more, another dog arrives; Rodriguez takes it out, not seeing Chris run back into the bushes. Chris watches the team finally enter the mansion; not wanting to risk being seen, he enters a tunnel he used to play in as a child.

Inside the mansion, Wesker and the team begin their investigation of the house, leaving team members Rebecca Chambers, Richard Aiken and Kenneth Sullivan behind in the main hall and Ridley in the library. Chris, meanwhile, enters the caves and tries to open the door, only to find the door locked and alarmed. The system alerts a nearby zombie, which attacks him immediately. Ridley, having disobeyed orders and wondered into the kitchen, finds a card terminal and shoots it, unlocking the door and letting Chris inside. After killing the zombie, the two briefly argue, only for the S.T.A.R.S. member to be attacked from behind by another. Chris kills the creature, but is too late to save Ridley.

Characters

• Chris Redfield - a ranch owner of Mohawk descent.
• Jill Valentine - the leader of the S.T.A.R.S. Bravo Team, and Chris' girlfriend.
• Albert Wesker - the leader of S.T.A.R.S. Alpha Team, and an Umbrella infiltrator in the unit.
• Rebecca Chambers - a member of the S.T.A.R.S. Alpha Team and medic.
• Barry Burton - a member of the S.T.A.R.S. Alpha Team and old friend of Albert Wesker.
• John Marcus - an Umbrella employee, and a high-priority asset S.T.A.R.S. is sent to retrieve.
• Ada Wong - one of the few surviving researchers, and John's girlfriend.

Further notes

• The mansion is named after Arkley, an alcoholic beverage bootlegger who built it to use as safehouse during 1920s Prohibition Era United States. He was responsible even for mansion's secret passages.
• Through the script, there is only the use of colorful magnetic card keys in the Arkley Mansion and the lab.
• The S.T.A.R.S. Alpha Team arrives to Arkley Mansion in the morning.
• Chris is a civilian rancher with no relation to S.T.A.R.S. forces or police departament. Chris' involvement in the Mansion Incident happens after his ranch is ravaged by zombie dogs and he goes investigate the mansion forest.
• Jill and Chris are in a love relationship, but Jill uses this relationship as cover to her investigation.
• Barry is described as "a muscular black man, as big as a grizzly, with the heart of a Teddy".
• Barry and Wesker are childhood friends.
• Plant 42 roars like a lion, more specifically the MGM's mascot.
• The Hunters are described as "ape-like... and lizard-like... with ferocious eyes that glare from beneath an insect- like carapace...". They are capable of climbing walls and have inner metal skins.
• Ada Wong is altruistic and she believed the research on t-Virus would be beneficial to mankind.
• The Tyrant is encased in a frozen tube. Its exposed heart is an implant from rhinoceros.
• The Arkley Lab explosion also takes down Chris' ranch and Raccoon City, already evacuated but occupied by some zombies.
• Forest Speyer mentions George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead movie, admitting knowledge about zombie horror fiction.
• The script dialogue often makes jokes about the expression "So... we live here now", Rosie Rodriguez's catchphrase.

External Links

• George A. Romero's Resident Evil Movie Script full archive available at The Daily Script