Zach Cregger, known for blending horror with humor in films like Weapons and Barbarian, is bringing a similar approach to his upcoming Resident Evil movie. According to comments he gave to The Hollywood Reporter, cited by PC Gamer, Cregger initially included a significant amount of comedic material in the film.
After test screenings, Cregger learned that while audiences liked the movie, they felt it was too funny. In response, he said he "stripped out as much of the jokes as possible" over the course of testing.
Cregger explained that humor in a horror film works best in small doses, saying, "A little bit of humour goes a long way in a horror movie." PC Gamer noted that too many jokes risk turning a horror film into a gimmick and undercutting its atmosphere, contrasting Leon Kennedy's frequent wisecracks with other Resident Evil protagonists, such as Ethan Winters, who are more serious than not.
Following the removal of some jokes, Cregger said the audience enjoyed the movie more, and that he personally liked the film more as well.
Correction — 2026-09-11: We corrected the comparison of Leon Kennedy and Ethan Winters to reflect PC Gamer's description.
Correction — 2026-09-11: We removed an internal source-access message and the unsupported Kotaku source and Angle Map entry. This summary is based on PC Gamer's report.