Aug. 17, 2007

Rewind to June 2006, when your intrepid columnist is sitting on a Mexico City soundstage during the waning weeks of production for the third installment in the "Resident Evil" series, "Resident Evil: Extinction." Inspired by the best-selling CAPCOM video game, the series has taken an even darker turn (if that's possible) than the previous films, as a postapocalyptic world is now overrun with killer zombies. And, of course, the evil Umbrella corporation is still making things difficult for the franchise's hero, Alice (Milla Jovovich). The cast and crew have recently arrived from weeks of shooting in the 128-degree Mexicali desert, where a future Las Vegas overrun by mountainous sand dunes and destruction was created. Needless to say, they are very pleased to be back on an air-conditioned set.

For producer Jeremy Bolt, it was important to give "Extinction" its own distinctive look. The first "Evil" took place in the confines of a lab, and the last installment, "Apocalypse," mostly occurred under the shadow of night. Bolt, co-producer and writer Paul W.S. Anderson ("Alien vs. Predator") and director Russell Mulcahy ("Highlander") flipped the series by having Alice's latest adventure take place under constant daylight. Bolt waxes, "Making a movie in daylight -- it's a real challenge because you can't hide things like you can at night, like makeup, CG. How do you make that scary?"

"Extinction" finds Alice assisting a convoy of survivors journeying to the potential safety of Alaska. The group includes previous allies Carlos (Oded Fehr) and L.J. (Mike Epps), as well as a new addition, convoy leader Claire Redfield (Ali Larter). The danger is that while the modifications Umbrella has made to Alice in the previous flicks have made her superhuman, those powers also allow them to easily track her. Our hero is quite aware of this, so as Jovovich explains, "She's protecting [the convoy] but at the same time keeping her distance, and she's definitely a loner."

Jovovich has gotten to do more and more stunts as the series has progressed, but was particularly thrilled with a jump off a bridge in Mexicali. She was wearing a safety wire just in case, but says, "I pretty much did the jump and had this really hard landing so it looked real. I like to make it as realistic as possible, because then I don't have to act so much. I can just react and just be natural because you jump down that hard, all you can [normally] do is go, 'Ugh' or whatever."

At the time (and after weeks of shooting), Jovovich wasn't so sure she'd be up for a fourth "Evil" flick, but Bolt assures fans the plan is to leave the door wide open for another go-around. Or, at least that was the thought at the time.

"There's a very, very big cliffhanger," Bolt says. "I don't want to give it away, but that's one of the things Paul and I are most proud of -- each movie, we sort of set up the next."

He then adds, "We have this idea -- the undead in the snow. It could be quite cool."

"Resident Evil: Extinction" opens nationwide Sept. 21.

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