One of the many films to show off new footage at last weekend's WonderCon was writer-director Paul W.S. Anderson‘s Resident Evil: Retribution.   In the series' fifth installment, Alice (Milla Jovovich) continues her search across the globe for those responsible for the deadly outbreak.  Things take a twist, however, when she runs into a few familiar faces.  Resident Evil: Retribution stars Michelle Rodriguez, Sienna Guillory, Kevin Durand, Shawn Roberts, Colin Salmon, Johann Urb, Boris Kodjoe, and Li Bingbing.  For more on the film, here’s the first teaser trailer, 25 things to know about the movie from my set visit, Dave's recap of the WonderCon panel, and Christina's interview with Anderson and Jovovich.Shortly before the panel, I got to sit down with Anderson for an extended interview.  We talked about the footage he was going to show, where he is in the editing process, the locations they filmed at around the world, the running time, deleted scenes, the music, would he consider showing all five Resident Evil films back to back, and how Resident Evil 5 is the beginning of the end of the franchise.  In addition, with Anderson producing Death Race: Inferno, he talked about seeing a recent cut of the film, and describes it as both a sequel and a prequel.  Hit the jump to watch.milla-jovovich-resident-evil-retribution-imagePaul W.S. Anderson Time Index:

  • :29 What he showed to fans at WonderCon. Says they showed a fight scene wherein Mila is wielding two different weapons at the same time. The sequence is three and a half minutes long.
  • 1:55 Says he’s still in the director’s cut phase of the movie with him and his editor. It’s usually a 10-week process, so they’ve got two weeks left to go before they show the film to the studio.
  • 2:30 Talks about the big locations used for the film. Washington DC, Moscow (with a derelict Red Square), Tokyo, arctic wastelands in northern Russia.
  • 3:05 Who he shows the film to first. He always shows it to Mila because he says she’ll always tell him the truth.
  • 4:04 Scheduling reshoots or pickups. Says they usually get everything that they need during principal photography. He always works in tandem with his editors during production so they’ll tell him if there’s something they’re missing.
  • 5:21 The length of the film. Says he’s always seen them as punchy and fast, but Resident Evil 5 will probably be longer because they have so many locations and returning characters to cover. Talks about how he’s been looking for a way to bring Michelle Rodriguez back for a long time.
  • 6:40 Music. Says songs will develop organically so if a scene feels like it needs a song down the line, they’ll put one in. Says tomandandy are doing the score again.
  • 7:20 Has he already found some deleted scenes? Says there’s a couple of science-fiction conceits that were maybe an idea too far that they’ve taken out, but they’ll be on the DVD.
  • 8:29 Talks about the idea of screening all the films back-to-back leading up to the premiere of Resident Evil 5.
  • 9:34 Says he just saw the final cut of Death Race: Inferno. Calls it both a sequel and a prequel.
  • 10:39 He’s still developing Pompeii but he’s really busy finishing up Resident Evil 5.
  • 11:27 Has he figured out where the final Umbrella base is? Says Resident Evil 5 is the beginning of the end. The franchise is building to a climax.