Zach Cregger’s reboot of “Resident Evil” opened to more than $108 million at the worldwide box office over its first weekend, the best launch in the franchise’s 24-year film history, according to Deadline. The film pulled in roughly $60 million domestically from 3,684 theaters and added about $48 million overseas, easily clearing its reported $75 to $80 million production budget in a single weekend.
A franchise reversal
The result marks a sharp turnaround for a series that had grown shaky at the box office. The previous entry, 2021’s “Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City,” opened to just $5.3 million domestically and finished its run with only $41.9 million worldwide against a $25 million budget, a result widely seen as a franchise low point.
Cregger’s version, distributed by Sony’s Columbia Pictures after a bidding war among four studios, follows Bryan, a medical courier played by Austin Abrams, who becomes trapped at Raccoon City General Hospital during a viral outbreak. The story runs parallel to the timeline of the second “Resident Evil” video game but is set in the present day, functioning as an alternate telling rather than a direct adaptation.
The supporting cast includes Zach Cherry, Kali Reis and Paul Walter Hauser as Umbrella Corporation scientists, along with Johnno Wilson. Production filmed in Prague starting in October 2025, and the film premiered at Fantastic Fest before its wide release on September 18.
Reviews line up behind the box office
Critics have been largely positive. The film has held a 95% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a score outlets have described as the best ever recorded for a video game adaptation, a genre that has historically struggled for critical respect even when films performed well commercially. Cregger, who built his reputation on the horror hits “Barbarian” and “Weapons” before taking on the franchise, has said the project was meant as “a love letter to the games” rather than a straightforward cash-in on the IP.
That critical reception matters for a franchise that has leaned on brand recognition more than reviews in the past. Earlier “Resident Evil” films, including the six-part series led by Milla Jovovich that ran from 2002 to 2016, built a loyal audience despite mixed critical response, topping out with “Resident Evil: The Final Chapter” at $312.2 million worldwide in its full run. Cregger’s opening weekend alone has already covered roughly a third of that lifetime total, putting the record for the highest-grossing entry in the franchise within reach if the film holds up over the coming weeks.
Part of a broader trend
The strong opening adds to a run of successful video game film adaptations in recent years, following titles such as “Sonic the Hedgehog,” “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” and HBO’s “The Last of Us” series, all of which suggested that faithful, well-reviewed treatments of established game properties can draw audiences beyond the core gaming fan base. For a franchise that had seemed to be running out of road after the 2021 reboot’s poor reception, Cregger’s film gives Constantin Film and Sony a clear incentive to plan further installments.
Whether “Resident Evil” can sustain this momentum through its second and third weekends, typically where horror titles see the steepest drop-offs, will determine how much of an impact the reboot ultimately has on the franchise’s long-term direction. For now, the combination of a franchise-best opening and unusually strong reviews gives the series more credibility than it has had in years.
