My suggestion--don't use the Resident Evil storyline as the basis for the origin of the zombies. It's a crappy storyline. Go with 28 Days Later. It's minimalistic, but it gets the point across, and you can still use the lab guys that pop up throughout the Resident Evil movies. They're just involved with the creation of "Rage", rather than the whole T-Virus thing.
My suggestion--don't use the Resident Evil storyline as the basis for the origin of the zombies. It's a crappy storyline. Go with 28 Days Later. It's minimalistic, but it gets the point across, and you can still use the lab guys that pop up throughout the Resident Evil movies. They're just involved with the creation of "Rage", rather than the whole T-Virus thing.