Resident Evil Reboot Sets Franchise Box-Office Record With $108.3 Million Global Debut

Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil is off to a record-breaking start at the global box office. The new adaptation earned an estimated $60 million domestically during its opening weekend, beating early projections of $40 million to $50 million and giving the long-running video game movie franchise its biggest North American debut.

The film also collected approximately $48.3 million internationally, bringing its worldwide opening total to $108.3 million. That performance puts Cregger’s movie comfortably ahead of the previous franchise record, held by 2010’s Resident Evil: Afterlife, which opened with $26 million domestically.

Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil Delivers a Major Franchise Comeback

The opening is particularly significant following the disappointing commercial performance of Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City in 2021. That reboot reportedly earned around $42 million worldwide against a production budget of approximately $25 million, while also receiving a mixed response from critics.

Cregger’s film had a considerably larger reported production budget of $75 million, but its opening weekend suggests the new direction has connected more strongly with audiences. The filmmaker previously earned attention for horror movies including Barbarian and Weapons, giving the reboot a director with an established reputation in the genre.

The early reception has also been notably positive. The film reportedly holds a 96% Rotten Tomatoes score alongside a B+ CinemaScore, according to the source material. Those results are especially notable for an R-rated video game adaptation, a category that has historically produced inconsistent results at the box office.

Paul Dergarabedian of Rentrak told Variety that Cregger’s involvement helped make something familiar feel fresh and original again, while analyst David A. Gross described the performance as a significant comeback for the franchise.

Record Debut Could Open the Door for More Resident Evil Movies

The success of Resident Evil could have implications beyond its first weekend. With the movie becoming the franchise’s biggest domestic opener, Sony now has a strong commercial reason to consider expanding Cregger’s interpretation of the series.

Cregger has also indicated that ideas for future stories are difficult to avoid when working within the Resident Evil universe. At the same time, the film’s ending has already generated substantial discussion among early viewers, potentially giving future installments plenty of material to build upon.

For now, Resident Evil has accomplished something none of its predecessors managed: setting a new opening-weekend record for the franchise while crossing the $100 million mark globally in its debut.