‘Resident Evil’ Just Rewrote Its Own Box Office History, and Zach Cregger Is the Reason

For two decades, the ‘Resident Evil‘ box office story was one of diminishing returns. The film franchise kept shambling forward long after critics stopped paying attention. None of the earlier movies ever came close to a “fresh” rating, and the last reboot attempt vanished almost overnight. Sony clearly needed a fresh approach.

That approach came in the form of Zach Cregger, the writer-director behind ‘Barbarian’ and the Oscar-winning ‘Weapons.’ His take on Capcom’s survival horror series avoids adapting specific game characters or storylines and tries to capture the feeling of playing the games instead. It follows a medical courier caught in a deadly viral outbreak in Raccoon City, a choice that thrilled some fans and alienated others.

Now the opening weekend numbers are in, and they are enormous. Cregger’s ‘Resident Evil’ is estimated to have opened to $60M domestically, a record for the franchise. That makes it the biggest ‘Resident Evil’ opening ever in North America.

Sony’s own projections were far more modest. The studio initially expected a three-day debut of around $40M from roughly 3,500 theaters. Instead, the film grossed $26.3M on Friday alone, including $8.8M from Thursday previews.

The old franchise high now looks small by comparison. ‘Resident Evil: Afterlife’ had opened to $26M over an entire weekend in 2010. Cregger’s film nearly matched that in a single day. The most recent entry, ‘Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City,’ opened to just $5.3M in November 2021.

The result also tops the filmmaker’s own track record. ‘Weapons’ opened to $43M last August and finished with $270M worldwide on a $38M budget. The new film carries a $75M production budget, so it is already a long way toward recouping its cost domestically.

The September context is impressive too. The debut ranks 7th among September openings, ahead of ‘The Nun’ at $53.8M, while last year’s ‘Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle’ opened to $70.6M. Deadline also noted that it is one of only two major studio horror releases this fall, with Universal’s ‘Other Mommy’ from Rob Savage arriving on Oct. 9.

Word of mouth is a big reason the film has been able to break out. It holds a 96% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes and a 92% audience score, making it the year’s top-reviewed horror release. It also earned a B+ CinemaScore, the best in the franchise’s history.

The gap with earlier entries is striking. The 2002 original sits at 36% and ‘Welcome to Raccoon City’ at 30%. Even the best-scoring earlier film, ‘The Final Chapter,’ only reached 39%, while Cregger’s version also beats ‘The Odyssey’ (94), ‘Toy Story 5’ (93) and ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ (90). Bloody Disgusting went further, calling it the best-reviewed video game movie of any genre.

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

Not every review was a rave. The A.V. Club praised Austin Abrams and the film’s “bad day on the job” concept, but felt the momentum stumbled once the story sprawled into Raccoon City proper. That kind of mixed note is unlikely to dent a run this strong.

Abrams leads a cast that includes Zach Cherry, Kali Reis and Paul Walter Hauser. The film was also the only major new wide release this weekend, which gave it plenty of room to dominate. ‘Practical Magic 2’ took second place in its second week, while ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ and ‘The Odyssey’ remained near the top of the Friday chart.

Studio estimates can shift when final Monday actuals arrive. Even so, this weekend has changed the conversation around a franchise many had written off. Cregger’s game-inspired gamble has paid off with critics, audiences and the box office.

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