Zach Cregger’s ‘Resident Evil’ Reboot Continues to Dominate Box Office Performance

Avatar photoHrvoje Milakovic
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Horror has become one of Hollywood’s most dependable box office genres this year, and few filmmakers have capitalized on this trend more than Zach Cregger. After gaining attention with ‘Barbarian’ and achieving a cultural milestone with the Oscar-winning ‘Weapons,’ Cregger has demonstrated his ability to consistently attract audiences to theaters with original, unsettling narratives. His latest endeavor, however, presents a different challenge: reviving a long-standing video game franchise that has struggled to find success on the big screen.

This project is ‘Resident Evil,’ Cregger’s reimagining of Capcom’s iconic survival horror series, and its box office performance has been nothing short of extraordinary. The film debuted with an estimated $60 million domestically during its first three-day weekend, easily exceeding Sony’s initial projection of $40 million and even surpassing the more optimistic $53 million estimate that analysts had suggested as the weekend progressed.

This impressive figure made ‘Resident Evil’ the largest opening in the franchise’s 24-year history, coming remarkably close to matching the entire domestic lifetime total of the previous record-holder, 2010’s ‘Resident Evil: Afterlife.’ Now, according to industry tracker @GlobalBoxOffice, the film’s momentum is proving even more remarkable: after only a 62% drop on Monday, significantly lower than the usual decline for a horror opener, ‘Resident Evil’ is projected to earn between $30 million and $35 million in its second weekend, which would represent the best non-holiday Monday hold for an opening film this century.

Much of this staying power seems linked to the film’s reception, which has been notably positive compared to earlier installments in the series. ‘Resident Evil’ currently boasts a Certified Fresh 96% score on Rotten Tomatoes, the highest rating any live-action film in the franchise has ever achieved, with the previous record sitting at just 37% for 2017’s ‘Resident Evil: The Final Chapter.’ Audience reactions have been equally enthusiastic, awarding the film a B+ CinemaScore and skewing notably young and male, with 74% of ticket buyers under the age of 35.

The film reunites Cregger with ‘Weapons’ actor Austin Abrams, who stars as a medical courier caught in a viral outbreak while trying to deliver an urgent package to a hospital in the fictional Raccoon City. Instead of relying on established characters from Capcom’s games, Cregger and co-writer Shay Hatten chose to create an entirely original story around the outbreak, a decision that initially left some longtime fans of the franchise uncertain but ultimately did little to hinder the film’s momentum at the box office.

Screenshot 2026 09 18 at 08 18 54 Resident Evil 2026 Rotten Tomatoes

This marks the biggest opening weekend of Cregger’s career by a significant margin, surpassing the $43.5 million debut of ‘Weapons’ in 2025, which went on to gross $270 million globally against a modest $38 million budget. With a $75 million production budget backing ‘Resident Evil,’ the film has already surpassed $108.3 million globally within its opening days, positioning it for strong profitability even before considering its unusually resilient second-weekend hold.

This kind of sustained performance is crucial in a fall box office landscape that has otherwise relied on a single dominant release each week, with little counterprogramming from other major studios. Following a soft second weekend for Warner Bros.’ ‘Practical Magic 2,’ which dropped nearly 60% in its own sophomore frame, ‘Resident Evil’ has effectively emerged as the fall season’s first genuine word-of-mouth success story, a film that continues to draw in audiences well after the initial opening weekend buzz would typically begin to wane.

With horror consistently exceeding expectations throughout the year and ‘Resident Evil’ now poised to maintain the number-one spot at the box office for a second consecutive weekend, Cregger’s transition from acclaimed original horror filmmaker to franchise revivalist appears to be yielding significant rewards.

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