‘Resident Evil’ Just Earned the Best CinemaScore Grade the Franchise Has Ever Seen

Horror franchises built around video game source material have a long, complicated history with mainstream audience reception, often splitting the difference between box office success and genuine crowd enthusiasm. The ‘Resident Evil’ film series has spent over two decades living squarely in that gap, racking up ticket sales while rarely earning the kind of warm reception that turns a franchise into a critical darling.

That pattern appeared destined to continue with yet another reboot attempt, especially given how uneven audience reactions have been across the franchise’s six previous entries. Early signs from opening night, however, suggest this particular version might finally be breaking that cycle.

Zach Cregger’s ‘Resident Evil’ has received a B+ from audiences at CinemaScore, making it the most well-received film ever in the franchise. That grade puts it ahead of every prior entry dating back to the original 2002 film, each of which landed somewhere between a B and a C+ over the course of the series’ 24-year run.

The new film’s B+ grade tops a franchise history that includes the original 2002 ‘Resident Evil’ and 2004’s ‘Apocalypse,’ both of which earned a B from opening-night audiences. 2007’s ‘Extinction’ and 2010’s ‘Afterlife’ each dipped slightly to a B-, while 2012’s ‘Retribution’ marked the franchise’s low point at a C+.

The series rebounded somewhat with 2017’s ‘The Final Chapter,’ which returned to a B grade, before 2021’s ‘Welcome to Raccoon City’ slid back down to a flat C. Against that backdrop, Cregger’s reboot clearing every single one of those benchmarks represents a meaningful shift in how mainstream audiences are responding to this version of the story.

The strong CinemaScore grade has arrived alongside similarly strong box office momentum. The film pulled in $8.8 million from Thursday preview screenings alone, a number that pushed opening weekend projections well past earlier tracking estimates that had hovered around $40 million.

Industry watchers now expect the film to open north of $60 million domestically, which would comfortably surpass the franchise’s previous opening weekend benchmark of $26.6 million set by ‘Resident Evil: Afterlife,’ even accounting for inflation. That combination of a strong audience grade and record-breaking early numbers suggests the reboot is resonating well beyond just critics.

The positive reception isn’t limited to CinemaScore alone. Early audience numbers also show a 90 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes alongside a 4.5 out of 5 rating on PostTrak, both of which reinforce just how warmly opening-night crowds have responded to the film.

That kind of consistency across multiple audience tracking systems adds weight to the CinemaScore result, suggesting it isn’t an outlier but part of a broader pattern of strong word-of-mouth heading into the film’s wider release. For a franchise that has historically split critics and audiences alike, having both camps align this closely is a notable departure.

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

A record-setting CinemaScore grade paired with a potential franchise-best opening weekend gives Sony and the creative team behind this reboot plenty of momentum to build on. Whether that translates into long-term franchise plans remains to be seen, but the early numbers suggest audiences are far more invested in this version of ‘Resident Evil’ than they have been in years.

For a series that has spent over two decades chasing consistent goodwill from both critics and casual moviegoers, finally landing on both fronts at once marks a genuine turning point. How the film performs across its full theatrical run will determine just how far that goodwill carries it.

Unlike Rotten Tomatoes or Metacritic, which aggregate reviews from critics and general users after the fact, CinemaScore polls audiences as they exit opening-night screenings, offering studios a more immediate read on how a film is landing with the people who paid to see it first. A strong grade often signals positive word-of-mouth that can help sustain ticket sales in the weeks following release, rather than a film simply front-loading its box office on marketing alone.

That makes this B+ especially significant for a franchise that has occasionally struggled with steep drop-offs after opening weekend. If audience enthusiasm holds through the following weeks, ‘Resident Evil’ could end up with a considerably longer theatrical run than its predecessors managed.

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