'Resident Evil' Lands Franchise-Best $53M–$60M Debut

Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter report Zach Cregger's 'Resident Evil' opened to a franchise-record $53M–$60M with the series' first B+ CinemaScore.

Deadline reports that Sony is calling Zach Cregger's R-rated 'Resident Evil' a $53M–$55M three-day opening as of Saturday morning, with rivals estimating it could approach $60M after a $26.3M Friday (including $8.8M in Thursday previews). Both Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter describe it as the biggest opening in the 24-year-old franchise's history, surpassing 2010's 'Afterlife' ($26.6M per Deadline), and the largest of Cregger's career, topping 'Weapons' ($43.5M). At $60M, Deadline notes it would rank as the 7th best September opening ever.

The opening alone exceeds the entire domestic runs of several prior entries, according to Deadline: the 2002 original ($40.1M), 'Retribution' ($42.3M), 'Final Chapter' ($26.8M), and 2021's 'Welcome to Raccoon City' ($17M). The Hollywood Reporter notes it is also running far above the $40M Sony initially projected, against a $75M production budget. For a franchise whose previous preview record was just $1M ('Final Chapter,' per Deadline), the $8.8M Thursday alone marked a step-change in audience appetite.

The film earned a B+ CinemaScore — the best ever for a 'Resident Evil' movie, per Deadline, topping the B grades of the original, 'Apocalypse,' and 'Final Chapter.' The Hollywood Reporter cites a 96% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, the year's top-reviewed horror release, and Rotten Tomatoes' own first-reviews roundup quotes critics calling it 'easily the best Resident Evil film' and 'one of the best video game movies ever made.' Deadline also reports a 71% PostTrak definite recommend, rising to 76% among moviegoers 35–44.

Deadline reports that PLFs and Imax represent 53% of the weekend so far, with Imax alone at 16%. Walk-up business sits at 54%, and 46% of attendees came because it is part of a franchise they love, while 37% came for Cregger himself — what Deadline calls another case of a director becoming the star. The audience skews 66% male to 34% female, and Deadline names the AMC Burbank in Los Angeles as the film's highest-grossing location at $117.4K through Friday.

Variety's spoiler-heavy interview with star Austin Abrams details his tragic turn as Bryan, a medical courier who transforms into a tentacled monstrosity in the Umbrella Corporation lab after hiding a zombie bite. Abrams tells Variety Cregger's notes on the monster fight were simply 'more roar. Scarier. Monster more. Keep monstering.' Rotten Tomatoes' critics roundup calls it a star-making performance, with MovieWeb quoted saying the film 'relies completely on Abrams' stellar performance.'

The key question, per Deadline, is Saturday's hold — the studio's history of strong Friday-to-Saturday holds suggests legs, but the front-loaded nature of horror remains the watch item. Sony also gets a second win this weekend with 'Brand New Day' approaching $944M, a one-two punch at the fall box office.