Is there life after Resident Evil?

HONG KONG — With wife Milla Jovovich, writer-director-producer-and-franchise veteran Paul W.S. Anderson was in this city in late December last year to promote Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, the sixth and final installment in the most successful video game film franchise ever, after Resident Evil (2002); Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004); Resident Evil: Extinction (2007); Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010) and Resident Evil: Retribution (2012), that have collectively grossed more than $1B worldwide.

The couple was also in Hong Kong for Anderson to receive the prestigious Franchise Achievement Award during the 2016 edition of the CineAsia exhibitors and distributors’ convention the day after he and Milla separately did the “round table” with journalists from the Asian region at a function room of the Grand Hyatt (not the one in Kowloon side) where they were billetted.

Followers of the franchise will see The Final Chapter pick up immediately after the events in Resident Evil: Retribution in which Alice, the character played by Jovovich, is the only survivor of what was meant to be humanity’s final stand against the undead. Alice must return to where the nightmare began — The Hive of Raccoon City where the Umbrella Corporation is gathering its forces for a final strike against the only remaining survivors of the apocalypse.

Opening nationwide on Wednesday, Feb. 1, Resident Evil: The Final Chapter is distributed by Columbia Pictures, the local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.

Featured last week in Conversations, Jovovich retraced the colorful history of the franchise and talked about how it was being directed by her husband. In this Conversation, Anderson revealed more “secrets” about the franchise and…after doing Resident Evil films through 15 years, what?

How different is the first Resident Evil from this one?

“When I made the first Resident Evil, I kept a lot of secrets such as about who Alice really was, what the Umbrella Corporation really was, what was the history of the Red Queen, and other secrets. I didn’t know that the project would become a franchise. I never even thought that we would be doing another Resident Evil. And now, we are into the sixth, and final, installment of the franchise.”

So finally you are revealing all those secrets.

“I knew 15 years ago when I did the first film that if I got the chance to do The Final Chapter, I would have the chance to, you’re right, reveal all those secrets. The movie is structured as a journey; it goes back to where the story started, to the Raccoon City, bringing a closure to the franchise. But it’s not just a journey physically, it is also a journey of discovery. Alice will discover about herself.

“It’s a spectacular film, by far the biggest of the franchise, and the best. But as well as the action, it also has an emotional narrative component which, for me, is very affecting. I am British and they say that the British hardly express emotion. Suddenly, when I watched the end of the movie, after having worked on it for two years, I still got emotional.”

Is this the longest to do among the six films?

“Yes, it took longer because somebody got the leasing actress pregnant.” (Laughs and laughs) “It was a bit of a delay. Milla was pregnant with our second baby. Actually, we were ready to shoot the movie and we had to delay it for one year. What was good, and I think it really benefitted the movie, is that I didn’t take any other work.

“The first time Milla got pregnant, I was making a film, Death Race (2008) with Jason Statham, so I missed most of her pregnancy because I was always away working in Montreal while Milla was in L.A. I got a telephone call to come back — ‘You know, come back now!!!’ — so I literally left the set, got on a plane and flew back to L.A. and went with Milla to the hospital where she had the baby.”

You are a good husband and dad.

“This time around, I didn’t want to miss anything so I didn’t take any other work and just stayed in L.A. with Milla. As a consequence, I had another nine months to really polish the movie in terms of continuing to work on the script, to think about the action scenes and the production design. So a lot of efforts did go into the production of this movie and that shows in the movie. It’s a movie that I’m very proud of and I really feel that it’s the best of the franchise.”

So you had a whole year being a full-time father.

“Well, the child wasn’t there yet. But I was with Milla the whole time she was pregnant. We shot in South Africa and the whole family came with us.”

In the movie, you directed not just Milla but also your daughter Ever. How was it directing your daughter?

“Yes, Ever plays the Red Queen and she’s really good. I have to say, it was probably the most stressed that I’ve ever been on a movie set.”

Really, why?

“You know, on the one hand, she’s my daughter so I feel very protective. On the other hand, I feel like I didn’t want people to think that she got the role because of nepotism. So I felt a lot of pressure to make sure that she delivers and does a great job. I was a bundle of nerves. However, she was very relaxed because she has grown up on movie sets and for her, it was no big deal. But she did a great job and it really made me very proud.”

What scene with Ever was memorable to you?

“There’s a scene in the movie where her father has died and she’s at the funeral, and his casket was about to be lowered into the ground. We were shooting on long lenses so we were quite far from where the action was. I was telling the cameras department what to do. And as the camera tipped down, we took a close-up of Ever looking up from the casket with a tear falling down her cheek. It was chilling! She wasn’t only crying, she was also aware of that the camera was on her. Really, I was super, super impressed!”

What about Milla? How did you handle her on the set?

“It’s always a pleasure to work with Milla. She knows the character very well now and that makes it easy for me. We have a good relationship now. But I’m stressed every time she does anything that is action-related. We do become critical about each other, not only because we are husband and wife, but it happens to other actors not married to each other when they have different ideas about some things. If Milla doesn’t like my idea, she tells me, ‘Sugar, you know, I don’t like that,’ and she tells me why she doesn’t like it.”

How are you at home?

“We talk movies. We need that because I feel that in Hollywood, when you become successful, you become increasingly isolated. There are less and less people who tell you the truth. What they tell you is what they think you want to hear. I think that sometimes, some filmmakers lose their way because they don’t have people who tell them the truth. People have bad ideas sometimes and it’s good if you have people tell you that. I’m glad to have Milla. If she tells you, ‘It’s good, it’s really good!’ I can always rely on her to tell me the truth.”

Milla does her stunts in the movie. How do you feel about that?

“Listen, movie-making is about the illusion of danger. The last thing you want is for something to go bad or for anyone to get hurt because there’s always a lot of risks involved. It’s always incredibly stressful for me and I’m relieved when it’s all over. Milla wants to do everything, so that makes it more stressful to me. Sometimes, I ask myself, ‘Why don’t I just make movies where the actors just talk and talk?’ You know, a ‘dialogue’ movie. Directors are good at certain things and I have affinity for action movies.”

What will you miss most now that the franchise is over?

“Yes, of course, working with Milla. But we’ll always be together at home…relaxing. By the way, as the secrets are revealed in this movie, that will encourage people to watch the whole franchise all over again.”

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