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Resident Evil Breaks Box Office Records With $60 Million Opening
Confirmed
In Short: Zach Cregger's Resident Evil reboot has smashed box office records, earning $60 million domestically over its opening weekend, surpassing the previous record set by Resident Evil: Afterlife in 2010 with $26.6 million.
Cregger's approach to the franchise has resonated with audiences, particularly among younger viewers who have become a significant driver of box office success.
Despite initial concerns from some fans about the film's deviation from the game's plot, the movie has received a 95% Fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes, the best review score for any Resident Evil film.
The production budget for Cregger's Resident Evil was $75 million, but the film is expected to turn a substantial profit given its strong performance.
Cregger's film is also on track to become the highest-grossing installment in the series, surpassing Resident Evil: The Final Chapter's global haul of $312.2 million.
The success of Cregger's Resident Evil marks a significant turnaround for the franchise, which had struggled with the 2021 reboot Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, which only made $17 million domestically.
Cregger's film has been lauded for its thrilling and terrifying reinvention of the Resident Evil universe, capturing the primal experience of playing the games.
The film's strong performance is expected to continue, with projections indicating it will have the highest box-office totals domestically by the end of its second weekend.
Cregger's Resident Evil has also achieved the franchise's best CinemaScore ever with a B+ rating, further cementing its success.
The film's success is a testament to Cregger's vision and the enduring appeal of the Resident Evil franchise.
What this adds
The film's success marks a significant improvement over the previous reboot attempt, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, which only made $17 million domestically.
The new movie's opening day alone earned $26.3 million domestically, nearly matching the entire run of the previous reboot.
Background
A new Resident Evil film takes a simple approach to the classic video game series, focusing on one character and a single mission.
Zach Cregger's Resident Evil reboot has earned $60 million at the domestic box office, setting a new franchise record. The film, which premiered this weekend, has also achieved the franchise's best CinemaScore ever with a B+ rating.
Resident Evil, also known as Biohazard in Japan, is a Japanese horror game series and media franchise created by Capcom. It consists of survival horror, third-person shooter, and first-person games, with players typically surviving in environments inhabited by zombies and other mutated creatures.
A box office or ticket office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons can perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a wicket.
What's confirmed
- The previous domestic opening weekend record holder for the franchise was the Milla Jovovich-led Resident Evil: Afterlife, which opened to $26.6 million back in 2010 at the U.S.
What's still developing
- The original Resident Evil game was a smash-hit when it came out in 1996 First launched in 1996 on the original Sony PlayStation by Japanese developer Capcom, Resident Evil was a sensation.
- Zach Cregger's Resident Evil follows Bryan - a courier having a very, very bad day at work One of the hottest horror directors on the planet adapting the world's most popular scary video game series?
- On paper Zach Cregger and Resident Evil are the perfect unholy alliance.
- But in the lead-up to the film’s release, Cregger’s spent a lot of time defending himself against complaints he’s cashing in on the Resident Evil name.
- Cregger's Resident Evil follows the story of Bryan, an original character played by Austin Abrams who worked with the director on Weapons.
- “Putting Zach Cregger in charge of a major franchise like Resident Evil [made] something familiar feel fresh and original again,” analyst Paul Dergarabedian tells Variety.
- The production budget for Cregger’s Resident Evil movie was a reported $75 million, no small price tag, but it will have no problem turning a profit for Sony in the weeks to come.
- Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil brought the popular video game franchise back to the big screen this weekend, and the film is already smashing through franchise records at the box office.
- “Gen Z has also become such a major driver of the box office, and they obviously love horror movies.” What’s particularly noteworthy here is that it was just five years ago that Sony had previously attempted to reboot the Resident Evil film franchise with director Johannes Roberts’ Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City.
- But that film only opened to $5.3 million in the early days of the pandemic, going on to scare up just $41.9 million at the worldwide box office.
- If Welcome to Raccoon City suggested that Resident Evil ‘s box office prospects were no longer what they once were, Cregger’s Resident Evil course corrects and indicates that the franchise still has a bright future ahead in the world of cinema.
- Meagan Navarro writes in her rave review for Bloody Disgusting, “Zach Cregger captures the primal experience of playing the games, and it’s an absolute breathless blast.” Based on the iconic video game franchise, the film is “a thrilling — and terrifying — reinvention of the Resident Evil franchise” from the mind of visionary filmmaker Zach Cregger.