Resident Evil (2002) - 5 questions

Question: So when the game RE:2 came out there was an entry to win a role in the Resident Evil film. Who in this film was the winner of that contest or was a winner ever named? I ask because I found my old game disk and the entry was still in the case and I was wondering if someone did win, if so who was it?

Answer: The winner was the English girl playing the Red Queen.

Question: Why was the choice made to create an original story rather than base the movie directly on the game? While there are game references and little details, much of the story was original material. Almost everyone I know is very angry that the games were disregarded so much.

Answer: It was original for two reasons. 1) there are so many games - RE, RE2, RE: Nemesis, RE 0, RE Code Veronica - that it would be impossible to pick one game to base the movie on that all the players of the series would approve of. Theoretically, making it original prevented gamers from complaining that they picked a bad storyline. The constant references to the different games were supposed to placate your friends. 2) the director naturally wants to add some of his own style to the movie, not just copy what was already done in a game.

Question: Can someone explain what the guys in white suits wanted with Matt at the end of the film when he was infected (Why would they want to contain him instead of treating him with the antidote?). The other question was with Alice (Milla Jovovich) what exactly were they doing with her and how come nothing happened to her in that hospital. Did the zombies just decide to leave her alone?

Answer: Matt was infected with a T-virus from a second-generation Licker with human DNA (drawn from Spence). Umbrella has no other research project like him and believes that he may be useful for the Nemesis research strain (using the T-virus to create directed but monstrous mutations in humans for killing machines). Alice was deemed too great a security risk to release, so they experimented with a modified T-virus on her to create a more powerful soldier - she was under observation at the end. The zombies couldn't get into her room because the door was locked and don't have the problem-solving abilities necessary to open the door, so they went searching for more accessible prey. Much of this is explained more clearly in the sequel.

Question: Why is the game series this is based on known as 'Resident Evil' in some countries but in others it's called 'Biohazard'? Does the name swap also apply to the film?

Answer: The game was originally called 'BioHazard' in Japan, but because of copyright problems with the band Biohazard, was named 'Resident Evil' in the US and Europe. However most hard-core gamers call it 'BioHazard' no matter where they live. For more info, check out http://faqs.ign.com/articles/378/378719p1.html.

Question: Is the reanimation of dead people the purpose of the virus, or an unforeseen side effect? If it's a side effect, what was the original purpose of the T-Virus?

Answer: The original virus was a "Fountain of Youth" type of thing. Reviving dead cells so the host would stay young. It was so powerful that it reanimated the dead.