‘Resident Evil’ Keeps Breaking Franchise Records in Its Third Weekend
Video game adaptations rarely hold up well after their openings. Their built-in fans tend to show up on the first weekend, and the audience can drop off fast. ‘Resident Evil’ had a particularly rough history on this front, since Sony’s 2021 reboot, ‘Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City,’ opened to just $5.3 million and finished with $41.9 million worldwide.
Zach Cregger’s version looked like a very different story from the start. It opened on Sept. 18 to $60 million domestically and $108.3 million globally, the biggest debut in the franchise’s history. The previous domestic opening record belonged to ‘Resident Evil: Afterlife,’ which opened to $26.6 million in 2010.
The reviews and audience scores have been just as unusual for this franchise. The film holds a 96% score on Rotten Tomatoes, making it the highest-rated entry in the series and the best-reviewed video game movie on the site, and audiences gave it a B+ CinemaScore. It was made for $75 million.
Now the third Friday has added another record. Box office analyst Luiz Fernando writes that despite being the oldest among the holdovers, ‘Resident Evil’ remains the strongest at the U.S. box office, even with so many newer releases around it. The R-rated adaptation grossed a franchise-record $3.6 million on its third Friday, a drop of just 48.2% from last Friday despite losing 425 theaters.
Despite being the oldest among the holdovers, #ZachCregger’s #ResidentEvil remains the strongest at US #BoxOffice, despite facing so many newer releases!
— Luiz Fernando (@Luiz_Fernando_J) October 3, 2026
The R-rated horror game adaptation grossed Franchise RECORD 3.6M on 3rd FRI, with another solid hold, just a -48.2% drop from… pic.twitter.com/mZqFz9XBQI
Fernando says the reboot now has a $116 million domestic total, and he is eyeing an $11 million to $14 million third three-day weekend. JoBlo’s weekend update lands in the same range, projecting about $12 million and a $124 million domestic total. That would be a strong hold for a horror film in its third frame.
The earlier weekends set the stage. The film earned $23.3 million in its second weekend, a 61% drop, and it became the first movie in the franchise to cross $100 million domestically, ahead of the $60.1 million total of ‘Afterlife.’ Cregger’s previous film, ‘Weapons,’ ended its domestic run with $151.5 million, and ‘Resident Evil’ is on its way to surpass that.
The worldwide picture is also strong. The film has passed $200 million globally, at roughly $202 million, and Japan does not open until Oct. 9, with China still ahead. Those are historically the franchise’s two strongest markets, which suggests the final number could challenge the series record of $312.2 million set by ‘Resident Evil: The Final Chapter.’ It also needs $270 million to pass ‘Weapons’ as Cregger’s biggest hit.
The film is also proving it can hold its own against fresh competition. This weekend, Tom Cruise’s ‘Digger,’ Anne Hathaway’s ‘Verity’ and Brad Pitt’s ‘Heart of the Beast’ are all in the mix, yet the zombie reboot continues to draw a crowd. Walk-up business and word of mouth have helped it since opening weekend.
The first trailer for Zach Cregger's ‘RESIDENT EVIL’ has been released.
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) April 30, 2026
In theaters on September 18. pic.twitter.com/eeVCAGzy6M
Austin Abrams stars as a medical courier who must make a delivery to Raccoon City General Hospital while a zombie outbreak spreads. Cregger, the director of ‘Weapons’ and ‘Barbarian,’ has said he wanted to capture how it feels to play the games. Based on the numbers, audiences are buying it.
For Sony, the result is a welcome one. A $75 million reboot that opened big and is still holding well is the kind of story the studio could not have predicted five years ago.
What do you think of Resident Evil continuing to break franchise records in its third weekend?
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