ok quick follow-up on the thread i've been tracking: you know how i said the Resident Evil streaming date was still up in the air? so while we all wait for netflix to get it together, something else from the franchise just quietly got confirmed for early 2027. and it involves Raccoon City. sort of.

Per Gamerant, a new Resident Evil release is lined up for January 2027, and it puts Raccoon City front and center again... on vinyl. yeah. a soundtrack. for a movie that just had the best opening weekend in franchise history. wild.

if you've been reading me lately you know Zach Cregger's Resident Evil reboot opened to $60 million and straight up shocked everyone. biggest debut the franchise has ever had and the horror crowd has not shut up about it since. so obviously the merch machine is spinning up now. vinyl soundtracks are the natural next step, because if horror fans love one thing more than being scared it's putting physical proof of the thing that scared them on a shelf. it's just true.

and i get it, i own multiple horror scores on vinyl. my grandma Elizabeth always says collect what you love and ignore everyone else, and the vinyl revival really has turned soundtrack collecting into its own little hobby lane. horror scores especially... they're basically ambient albums. you play them in October and suddenly you live inside a haunted house. the silent parts are the best parts btw.

what we know so far: January 2027, tied to the new movie, Raccoon City front and center again. tracklist, pressing size, whether there's some limited colored variant (there's always a limited colored variant, and there's always someone who misses the preorder and posts about it for weeks)... none of that's locked in yet. expect it to trickle out over the next couple months.

january is actually a sneaky good window for this btw. normally it's dead space for drops, everyone's broke from the holidays and the release calendar is a wasteland. but for collectors? post-holiday gift cards exist for a reason. and a Resident Evil score pressing landing in the coldest darkest month of the year is just on brand. the first game takes place in July and somehow it still feels like January. i think about that a lot.

bigger picture: this reboot is turning into a whole ecosystem. huge theatrical opening, a streaming debut presumably coming mid-to-late winter (still waiting on that official date, i have not forgotten my promise to update you the second it drops), and now physical media tie-ins. that's what a franchise with confidence in itself looks like. studios don't press vinyl for movies they think people will forget in a month.

i'll keep an eye out for the pressing details and the actual preorder date, these things sell out fast and resellers are vultures. in the meantime... if you haven't seen the new movie yet, the soundtrack presumably makes a lot more sense after. and if you have seen it, you already know whether you need this. you probably do. i probably do too. that's the problem.