Zach Cregger's 'Resident Evil' Scares Up a Monster Box Office Debut!

The highly anticipated reboot of the "Resident Evil" franchise, released by Sony, has made a significant splash at the box office, signaling a strong start for the fall movie season and contributing to a tremendous year for the horror genre. On its opening day, the zombie horror film garnered an impressive $26.3 million domestically across 3,684 screens, positioning it as the clear No. 1 new release on Friday. Projections indicate that by Sunday, the film is expected to reach approximately $55 million, marking it as the largest debut in the entire "Resident Evil" franchise history. This surpasses the previous record held by 2010’s “Resident Evil: Afterlife,” which made $26 million during its opening weekend.

Directed by Zach Cregger, known for his work on the successful horror films "Barbarian" (2022, which grossed nearly $50 million globally) and the Oscar-winning "Weapons" (which grossed $270 million worldwide), this new iteration of "Resident Evil" is based on Capcom’s popular horror video games. Austin Abrams takes the lead role as Bryan, a medical courier who finds himself embroiled in a terrifying zombie outbreak during a routine delivery to Raccoon City General Hospital. Cregger, who also co-wrote the script with Shay Hatten, embarked on a mission to create an original story for the reboot, purposefully omitting established characters from the video game universe. While this decision initially caused some trepidation among die-hard fans, early reviews and positive word-of-mouth suggest that these concerns were unfounded.

Critically, the film has been well-received. Owen Gleiberman of Variety, who previously characterized earlier "Resident Evil" films as "hyperviolent, hyperkinetic video-game zombie sludge," praised Cregger’s take as a "sweetly executed piece of escapist trivia" possessing "a quirky relatability." Furthermore, the movie boasts a "Certified Fresh" 96% score on Rotten Tomatoes, with the consensus highlighting its "unforgettable scares into a sleek runtime" and Austin Abrams' "crack comedic timing" that provides "crucial levity," describing it as a "propulsive tribute to the pleasure and terror of playing a truly spooky video game." Produced on a reported budget of $75 million, the new "Resident Evil" is poised to not only break box office records for the franchise but also turn around its critical fortunes, especially after the previous reboot, "Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City," had struggled.

Beyond its opening weekend, the film is expected to significantly outperform past installments in their lifetime domestic runs, with projections to pass the $40 million mark of the original "Resident Evil," $42 million for "Resident Evil: Retribution," $50 million for "Resident Evil: Extinction," $26 million for "Resident Evil: The Final Chapter," and potentially even $51 million for "Resident Evil: Apocalypse." The highest-grossing installment to date, "Resident Evil: Afterlife," which made $60 million in 2010, may also be surpassed.

In other weekend box office news, the Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock-led sequel “Practical Magic 2” secured second place on Friday, adding an additional $3.1 million in its second week. The witchy sequel is anticipated to earn another $10.4 million over the weekend, bringing its cumulative total to $48.2 million. Sony’s comic book sequel “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” remained in the Friday top 5, landing at No. 2 with an additional $1.53 million, pushing its staggering domestic gross to $944.15 million. Universal’s “The Odyssey” finished fourth on Friday, taking in an additional $1.36 million and reaching a cumulative total of $609.8 million.

Among other new releases, Vertical’s historical thriller “The Weight,” starring Ethan Hawke and Russell Crowe and directed by Padraic McKinley, opened to approximately $1.17 million across 1,504 theaters on Friday, placing it fifth. It is expected to make $2.3 million through its opening weekend. From GKids, the animated feature “Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom,” directed by Steve Cox and Matthew Walker, opened with $540,000 across 2,173 theaters on Friday and is projected to earn roughly $1.4 million through the weekend. The film follows Shaun the Sheep on Halloween Eve as he tries to fix a ruined pumpkin patch, leading to the appearance of a wild beast.