The Resident Evil series is one that I completely and totally forget even exists until some news comes up about another one, so today served as a reminder of Paul W.S. Anderson‘s main area of interest over the past ten years or so. A big update on the fourth movie, Resident Evil: Retribution, comes from BloodyDisgusting, who have learned that Anderson will be returning to write and direct, while Milla Jovovich — to nobody’s surprise, I’m sure — will also be back as the main character of Alice.

This fifth (!) installment will take the character from Toronto to Tokyo, but not everybody will return; it seems like the character of Jill Valentine, who was played in the previous three by Sienna Guillory, is getting a new actress. Even though she tweeted about her return, BloodyDisgusting has learned that they’re currently looking for someone else to take up her part. Actors are also being sought for the characters of Barry Burton and Leon Scott Kennedy, both of whom were featured in previous games. (Kennedy happened to be the person you play as in the amazing Resident Evil 4, but this movie’s setting tells me that it won’t follow the plot of that game.)

One can readily (and rightfully) acknowledge that this is a dumb series, but I have to admit that I can see the general entertainment value in them. The thing is, zombies are a rather tired subject, and I would dare say that this is one of the few movies from the past decade that has done anything new with them — I’m not saying it’s good, but it should be given some credit for that. Knowing that Anderson is writing and directing inspires no confidence, but I never planned on seeing this, anyway. Shooting is said to begin in October, with a release date planned for September 14th, 2012.

What do you think of the Resident Evil franchise? Are you excited for another installment?