'Resident Evil' Reaches $60M Opening, $108M Globally

Sony's 'Resident Evil' finalized a $60 million domestic debut and $108.3 million worldwide, setting records for the franchise and director Zach Cregger.

Sony's Sunday estimates confirmed Zach Cregger's 'Resident Evil' at a $60 million domestic opening from 3,684 theaters, with $48.3 million internationally for a $108.3 million global launch. Deadline reports the figure tops the franchise's previous best and nearly matches the entire lifetime domestic run of 2010's 'Resident Evil: Afterlife' ($60.1 million). TheWrap notes the opening beat the $40–45 million tracking range that held before reviews published Wednesday.

This is the eighth film in a 24-year franchise whose previous reboot, 2021's 'Welcome to Raccoon City,' opened to just $5.3 million domestically. World of Reel, which calls the film a total blast, notes Cregger never watched the Milla Jovovich entries but played the games obsessively, especially the fourth. The audience data supports the surprise: Deadline reports gamers made up 36% of attendance versus 14% on 2016's 'Final Chapter,' and 54% of opening-night business was walk-up, which TheWrap cites as a sign word-of-mouth spread fast.

The film carries the franchise's first B+ CinemaScore, per Deadline, and a 95–96% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, which Deadline calls the best of Cregger's career and the highest-rated horror film of 2026. It surpasses the $43.5 million opening of Cregger's 'Weapons,' and TheWrap says it is the biggest debut for the brand even after inflation adjustment. PostTrak exits showed a 71% definite recommend, with strong scores among Latino and Hispanic moviegoers at 74%.

Deadline details how Sony reached gamers and creators: an NRG 'Resident Evil' experience brought together over 300 influencers with more than 200 million combined reach, generating 450+ unique social posts and an estimated 3.5 million impressions. Guests navigated recreated Raccoon City zones with scavenger-hunt badges, and a partnership with Coco branded 50 delivery robots. IMAX and PLF screens accounted for 53% of the weekend, with IMAX alone at 16%, according to Deadline.

Austin Abrams, who played a supporting role in 'Weapons,' leads the reboot as Bryan, a medical courier fighting through Raccoon City in a 95-minute runtime. In a Variety interview, Abrams described filming in Prague's freezing rain that froze to his jacket, doing nearly all his own stunts except the farmhouse jump the team would not let him perform, and Cregger's direction during his final transformation into a tentacled monster: 'More monster. Keep monstering.'