Kill it. If you keep the same series name and keep just a handful of story elements (and crappy characters) then you have all sorts of expectations to live up to (for example, the outcry that RE5 is mostly action rather than survival horror). If you create a new IP, you're free to change whatever the hell you want because it's NEW and it will be judged on it's own merit rather than being slammed by the series haters and illogicaly defended by the series' fanboys.