Why is Alice chosen as the main protagonist in Resident Evil?

Question

Alice is the main protagonist in the Resident Evil film series and even the main attraction of the movie. What was the reason to choose a different protagonist from the video games? There are so many characters in the video game that could have been the main female protagonist, such as Ada Wong, Claire Redfield or Jill Valentine. I know that the name Alice is inspired from Alice in Wonderland and a catchy name, but what is the need for it if we have a character like Claire Redfield already?

Is there any official word on this?

Answer 1

Originally a script was written based on the characters and story of the first game:

Romero's screenplay revolved around the plot of the Arklay incident and included characters from the Resident Evil video games. Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine were the lead characters, involved in a romantic relationship. Barry Burton, Rebecca Chambers, Ada Wong and Albert Wesker were to also appear.
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Romero's script was disapproved of and production was placed into development hell.

Then Sony decided to hire a different writer:

Paul W. S. Anderson wrote a screenplay, which was ultimately favored over Romero's. In late 2000, Anderson was announced as director and writer, and Resident Evil re-entered pre-production stages. Anderson stated the film would not include any tie-ins with the video game series as "under-performing movie tie-ins are too common and Resident Evil, of all games, deserved a good celluloid representation".

So the character of Alice was created. Paul W.S. is said to have based Alice on the strong women which are portrayed in the Resident Evil game series. Because, as noted in the original question, the film was intended to originally be an allegory to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, the character was given the name Alice. Although that name is never spoken in the first film, it is the name listed in the credits.

Answer 2

When Paul W.S. Anderson was hired by CAPCOM to direct the film, they wanted a strong female lead in the movie. They couldn't find a better actress because none of them knew the game, so Milla Jovovich was hired because she knew how to play video games. So the character of Alice was created for her and put in the movie.

Michelle Rodriguez was also a fan of the Resident Evil games, and told her agents that if they were ever turned into a movie, she would love to be involved. So Anderson also agreed and put her into the film to co-star alongside Milla.

Alice was only put in the first Resident Evil film to add more drama and action to the film.

If you are curious as to why, the reason is that CAPCOM didn't want the movie to have the same storyline as the games, as they were concerned that people would just watch the movie instead of playing the games.

Answer 3

I have a simple theory. The live action movie series is a parallel universe where the original cast of the games were brainwashed /cloned. The new Alice character is umbrella's attempt to recreate the success that is Alexia Ashford. A superior human fused with strains of the T,Progenitor and veronica viruses. It explains all the powers, clones, Amnesia and Why umbrella owns Alice.