Director Zach Cregger said a practical stunt during the filming of the "Resident Evil" movie nearly killed lead actor Austin Abrams [1].
The incident highlights the inherent risks of practical effects in high-budget cinema, where mechanical failures can lead to catastrophic injuries in seconds.
Cregger said the event was a malfunction of a practical stunt that placed Abrams in a life-threatening position [1, 2]. The director said the equipment failure was severe and the margin between a successful shot and a tragedy was narrow.
"It would’ve killed him," Cregger said [2].
The production utilized practical effects to enhance the realism of the horror-action setting. However, the failure of the stunt mechanism created a scenario that Cregger said was a close call with death [3].
"It was crazy how close he came to death," Cregger said [3].
While the specific mechanics of the failure were not detailed in the reports, the accounts from the director confirm that the malfunction was not a controlled error but a genuine hazard. The incident occurred during the production of the film, which seeks to adapt the well-known gaming franchise for the screen [1, 2].
Abrams remained with the project following the accident. The production team has not released further details regarding safety audits or changes to the stunt protocols following the event [1, 2].
“"It would’ve killed him."”
This incident underscores the ongoing tension between the industry's desire for immersive, practical effects and the stringent safety requirements of modern film sets. As studios move away from total reliance on CGI to satisfy audience demands for realism, the risk of mechanical failure on set remains a critical liability for productions and a physical danger to performers.
