With the recent release of Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, the story of Alice Marcus has officially come to a close. The franchise has become one of the most successful video game-inspired adaptations of all time, and Paul W.S. Anderson's first film from 2002 handily turned Milla Jovovich into a bonafide superstar in the action genre. However, despite the series' successes, it seems that Jovovich almost quit the first film because a rewrite to the script gave Michelle Rodriguez's Rain all of the best moments in the story. Jovovich recently opened up and explained the 15-year-old dilemma, saying:
I almost quit the movie. I was shooting something else, and [director] Paul [W.S. Anderson] had hired Michelle Rodriguez to play Rain, and she had just come off Girlfight and there was Oscar buzz. She was very hot at that moment, and my hotness had sort of been already four years old by that point. So Paul rewrote the script for her.
By "rewrote the script for her," Jovovich means that Michelle Rodriguez got all of the awesome action scenes that were initially intended for Alice -- the decision itself stemming from Rodriguez's near-overnight stardom with the release of Girlfight. The rewrites created an imbalance in the script, in which Rodriguez's character performed all of the badass zombie-killing maneuvers, and Jovovich was more or less along for the ride. Jovovich noticed these changes on a flight to Germany before commencing production on the film, but before cameras started to roll, she sat down with Paul W.S. Anderson and forced the director (who would eventually become her husband) to take another look at the script. The script finally received a rewrite, and Alice and Rain both became the ultimate badasses of the story.
In the end, Milla Jovovich's comments to Inverse lend the sense that she doesn't harbor any resentment over the fundamental imbalance in Resident Evil's script. She ultimately went on to become the undeniable star of the franchise, while Michelle Rodriguez eventually stuck with the Fast and Furious series as Letty Toretto. Both of them have become two of the most iconic female action stars of the modern age, but it's still fascinating to look back and see how they shared the screen with one another early on in the franchise's history.
Although the Resident Evil series as we know it has officially come to an end, it's worth noting that the property is far from over on the silver screen. It was recently reported that a James Wan-produced reboot is currently in development, and the new take on the classic series will propel the franchise in a brand new direction. We're not sure what the film is going to look like just yet, but whoever writes the script would be wise to divide the action up reasonably to make sure the lead actress doesn't threaten to quit.
We will keep you posted with more updates related to the future of the Resident Evil franchise as more news about the reboot becomes available. Resident Evil: The Final Chapter was one of the first major franchises to release a film this year, but we still have plenty more on the horizon. Check out our 2017 movie premiere guide for more information about this year's most highly anticipated theatrical releases!
