Earlier this year, 'Resident Evil: The Final Chapter' took in an incredible $312 million worldwide - including $160 million in China alone - and served as the closing point for a movie series that had been ongoing ever since the original film release in 2002. With Milla Jovovich in the driving seat as Alice and Paul W.S. Anderson serving as director and writer, it's a series that hugely divided critics, but became a huge success with a cult following.

Milla Jovovich left the franchise with 'The Final Chapter'Milla Jovovich left the franchise with 'The Final Chapter'

Now though, that series is over, but that doesn't necessarily mean we've seen the end of the 'Resident Evil' franchise on the big screen. In fact, there are already rumblings about an entirely new film coming to viewers sooner rather than later, with a new cast and crew on board, ready to tell a new story within the 'Resident Evil' universe.

A report from Variety claims that chairman of the board at Constantin Film, Martin Moszkowicz confirmed to the publication at the Cannes Film Festival that development for a reboot was already underway at the production company.

The films to-date have of course been based on the Capcom video game series, and have earned an impressive $1.2 billion across the globe so far. As Europe's most successful independent horror genre movie franchise, it's no surprise that Constantin Film, who own the rights to the franchise are looking to milk this cash cow for all it's worth.

Whether or not the fans are ready to rally behind an entirely new approach to the series is another case altogether. They loved Jovovich's representation of the Alice character, so bringing her back with another actress may not be the right move. There are a variety of other directions the story could go down when it makes its return, so let's hope the originality of those getting involved this time round can bring something fresh to the franchise.

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'Resident Evil: The Final Chapter' comes to DVD and Blu-ray on June 12, 2017.