Resident Evil film in late February 2002, Milla Jovovich and director Paul W. S. Anderson discussed a potential sequel. Anderson said he began writing the screenplay for the second film after completing the first, and had plans for Alice to meet up with Jill Valentine. Jovovich confirmed her character would return in the sequel if the first film was successful. In early March, Eric Mabius, who played Matt Addison in the first film, stated a sequel was confirmed, would be set in Raccoon City, and would feature the Nemesis character. The sequel was officially greenlit by Sony Pictures in mid-2002 but Anderson chose not to direct due to his commitments to Alien vs. Predator (2004). He stayed on as the film's screenwriter and as one of its producers. Anderson used the game Resident Evil 3: Nemesis as the basis of the story and wrote in elements from his favorite films, such as the perimeter wall in Escape from New York and the deserted city in The Omega Man. Alexander Witt was hired to direct the film, marking his feature film directorial debut. The script had already been completed when Witt was hired. He made some suggestions to Anderson and fellow producer Jeremy Bolt, which resulted in some minor script changes. Casting Jovovich was the only person to reprise a role from the first film. It was initially reported that Mabius would be reprising his role as Matt Addison in the form of portraying Nemesis, but the part ended up going to Matthew G. Taylor. Mabius still appears via stock footage from the previous film used in a flashback scene. The original film did not feature any characters from the games, but it had always been the intention to add several to Apocalypse. Gina Philips was originally to appear in the film portraying the character Claire Redfield, but she eventually turned down the role which was then given to Emily Bergl, who left before production began. The character was dropped, but did appear in the film's sequel, Resident Evil: Extinction (2007), portrayed by Ali Larter. For the role of Valentine, Anderson first considered Natasha Henstridge, but she was unavailable; he then considered Mira Sorvino though she declined. The role eventually went to Sienna Guillory who prepared for the role by studying Valentine's movements and posture in the games. The role of L.J. was written specifically for Snoop Dogg, though he dropped