Why ‘Resident Evil’ Just Pulled Off the Franchise’s Biggest Feat Yet

Few video game adaptations have lived through as many reinventions as ‘Resident Evil.’ The franchise has spent more than two decades shambling across theaters, and the results have been wildly uneven. The most recent attempt before this year, 2021’s ‘Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City,’ grossed just $41.9 million worldwide and was a major bomb.

That made the idea of another reboot a tough sell for plenty of fans. Then came Zach Cregger, a filmmaker who had already shown he knew how to make horror pay off. His 2022 debut ‘Barbarian’ opened to about $10 million worldwide and eventually earned $46.2 million globally from a $4.5 million budget, turning it into a sleeper hit.

Now Cregger’s take on the zombie franchise has reached a milestone few expected. Variety reports that the film has climbed to exactly $400 million in global ticket sales, made up of $157.399 million in North America and $242.6 million overseas. That makes it the highest-grossing installment in the 24-year-old franchise.

The film has knocked off the previous champion, 2016’s ‘Resident Evil: The Final Chapter,’ which finished with $312 million globally. That earlier film leaned heavily on one market, as roughly $159.5 million of its total came from China alone. Cregger’s version has built its haul on a much more balanced worldwide footing.

The run began with a bang. The reboot opened to $60.2 million domestically and $108.3 million globally over September 18-20, both franchise records. Its reported production budget was only $75 million, so it cleared that number in a single weekend.

The film also rewrote the franchise’s domestic record book. It became the first movie in the series to hit $100 million at the U.S. box office. The previous domestic high had belonged to 2010’s ‘Resident Evil: Afterlife’ at $60.1 million, a number Cregger’s film matched in a single weekend.

What stands out is how long the movie has held on. By mid-October, the reboot had reached a worldwide haul of $320.2 million, making it Cregger’s top-grossing film. After six weeks in theaters, the worldwide total had reached $384.5 million, with $153.7 million from the US and Canada and $230.8 million from international markets.

Staying power like that is rare for a horror release, especially one that has faced fresh competition every week. Even as new titles arrived, the film kept showing up near the top of the charts. At one point, it landed in third place on a weekend when Universal and Blumhouse’s ‘Other Mommy’ debuted at No. 1, and it still kept adding to its total.

Some of the growth also came from markets that opened later. Back in late September, GlobalBoxOffice reported the film had crossed $150 million worldwide ahead of its releases in China and Japan. Those two territories give the film an extra boost long after its opening weekend.

The success naturally raises the question of what comes next. According to one report, Cregger didn’t initially plan a sequel, but now has new ideas. With $400 million in the bank and a franchise record firmly in hand, Sony has plenty of reason to listen.