‘Resident Evil’ Is Tracking for a Massive Opening That Could Rewrite the Franchise’s Box Office History

The fall box office has needed a jolt for weeks, and horror fans have been circling this particular weekend on their calendars for months. Zach Cregger’s reimagining of the ‘Resident Evil’ franchise arrives in theaters carrying both the weight of a 24-year-old video game adaptation legacy and the momentum of one of the most acclaimed directors currently working in the genre.

That momentum has been building steadily since reviews dropped earlier this week, with critics calling it the best-reviewed entry the franchise has ever produced. Combined with Cregger’s post-‘Weapons’ cachet among horror die-hards, industry watchers have spent the past several days steadily raising their projections for just how big this opening weekend could actually get.

The latest tracking now has ‘Resident Evil’ pacing for a domestic opening in the neighborhood of $58.5 million, a number that would comfortably obliterate the franchise’s previous best debut. Trailing behind it, ‘Practical Magic 2’ is projected to pull in roughly $11.8 million in its second weekend, while ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ rounds out the top three with an estimated $5.3 million as it continues its record-setting domestic run.

Weekend Box Office Predictions for Sep. 18 – Sep. 20, 2026

1. Resident Evil – $58.5M
2. Practical Magic 2 – $11.8M
3. Spider-Man: Brand New Day – $5.3M

Full weekend predictions can be found on the BoxOfficeReport website.#ResidentEvil #BoxOffice pic.twitter.com/8AavHQrp6V

— BoxOfficeReport.com (@BORReport) September 18, 2026

To put that potential opening in perspective, the current record holder for the ‘Resident Evil’ series is 2010’s ‘Resident Evil: Afterlife,’ which opened to $26.65 million during the post-‘Avatar’ 3D boom. Even the more conservative projections circulating this week, which range from $40 million to $50 million, would still represent a decisive new high for the franchise, and a number north of $58 million would nearly double the previous record outright.

Sony has opened the film in roughly 3,500 theaters, with a $75 million production budget backing Cregger’s vision for the reboot. Industry trackers have pointed to the film’s near-total break from the franchise’s established Milla Jovovich continuity as a key factor in its strong buzz, with the new story instead following an original protagonist, a medical courier caught in the middle of an outbreak, rather than leaning on returning characters or established game lore.

The picture is considerably less rosy for last week’s big new release. ‘Practical Magic 2’ debuted with a softer-than-expected start, landing closer to the $28 to $30 million range rather than the north-of-$40-million opening some had hoped for going in. Mixed reviews, reportedly sitting in the high-30s percentage range, have been cited as a factor in the film’s inability to expand much beyond its core older female audience, even with new additions like Joey King and Maisie Williams added to the cast.

With word-of-mouth still shaky, the sequel is expected to drop somewhere between 50% and 60% in its second weekend, a range that lines up closely with the current tracking figure. That kind of fall-off would put ‘Practical Magic 2’ on pace for a domestic run in the neighborhood of $100 million, a respectable total, though far from the breakout numbers the studio was likely hoping for.

Rounding out the weekend, ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ continues to hold steady in the top tier of the box office even weeks into its run, a reflection of just how dominant the film has been since becoming the highest-grossing movie of all time domestically. Meanwhile, holdovers like ‘The Odyssey’ are expected to stay in the mix as well, even as the multiplex landscape shifts to make room for ‘Resident Evil’s’ arrival.

This weekend is otherwise light on new wide releases, meaning most of the box office storyline will center on just how high ‘Resident Evil’ can actually climb once final numbers come in. With the fall corridor expected to heat up considerably next weekend thanks to a trio of new releases, this could be the last quiet stretch before the marketplace gets a lot more crowded.

The first trailer for Zach Cregger's ‘RESIDENT EVIL’ has been released.

In theaters on September 18. pic.twitter.com/eeVCAGzy6M

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) April 30, 2026

For now, all signs point to ‘Resident Evil’ delivering not just a win for Sony, but a legitimately historic weekend for a franchise that’s spent over two decades searching for this level of box office validation.

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