Monster Hunter Trailer Sets Up the Next Action Epic From Resident Evil Duo

The Monster Hunter trailer is here. Sony Pictures has unveiled a two-minute look at its adaptation of Capcom's best-selling game series, which reunites the Resident Evil husband-wife duo of Milla Jovovich and writer-director Paul W.S. Anderson. The Monster Hunter trailer confirms what we had previously been told — that the film would be a loose take on the video game lore. Jovovich plays the leader of a military team that is thrown into a world filled with monsters, where they must figure out how to survive and then get back home. This sounds a bit like Jumanji, minus the sense of humour.

Jovovich's character even hints at events inspired by the end of Jumanji: The Next Level. Deep into the Monster Hunter trailer, she notes: “If we can get into their world, they can get into ours.” They refers to the giant monsters, one of which proceeds to rip apart a jumbo jet with its feet in a matter of seconds. The Monster Hunter trailer is nearly entirely made up of special effects-driven action sequences, and it'll be interesting to see if the film can punch above the levels of Resident Evil, which failed to score more than 37 percent on reviews aggregator Rotten Tomatoes during its six-movie run.

In addition to Jovovich in the lead, Monster Hunter also stars Thai martial artist-actor Tony Jaa (Furious 7), American rapper Clifford “T.I.” Harris, Jr., American actress Meagan Good (Think Like a Man), Mexican singer-actor Diego Boneta (Rock of Ages), Australian actor Josh Helman (X-Men: Days of Future Past), and American rapper Jin Au-Yeung “MC Jin”, and Ron Perlman (Hellboy). Monster Hunter is a production of Sony Pictures-owned Screen Gems, Germany-based Constantin Film (also behind Resident Evil), China's Tencent Pictures, and Japan's Toho (best known for Godzilla).

Debuting in 2004 on the PS2, the Monster Hunter franchise has sold over 64 million copies worldwide as of June this year. Five games have been released in total: 2004's Monster Hunter, 2006's Monster Hunter 2, 2009's Monster Hunter Tri, 2013's Monster Hunter 4, and 2018's Monster Hunter: World, with the last of them responsible for expanding its global popularity. A Nintendo Switch-exclusive sixth title, Monster Hunter Rise, is planned for March 2021.

Monster Hunter is slated to release in December in India in English, Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu. The film is out December 3 in parts of Europe, December 4 in the UK, and December 30 in the US.