Apocalypse was greenlit in 2002 when the first Resident Evil film was a success at the box office. The film was produced by Constantin Film, Davis Film and Impact Pictures, mostly on location in Canada. The film entered pre-production stages in mid 2003 and began principal photography on August 6, 2003 and ended on October 23, 2003. The movie cost $11 million more than the original Resident Evil Paul W.S. Anderson, who wrote and directed the first Resident Evil, only wrote the screenplay for Apocalypse, passing the director's chair to Alexander Witt so he could direct Alien vs. Predator.