“Weapons” director Zach Cregger has electrified the US box office again, this time with his take on “Resident Evil.”
His reboot of the ’90s zombie video game has collected $60 million in its opening weekend. Those ticket sales are way above expectations, and they register as the largest debut in the 24-year-old horror franchise. Previously, 2010’s “Resident Evil: Afterlife” with Milla Jovovich ranked as the largest opening in the series with $26 million (not adjusted for inflation). “Resident Evil” also collected $48.3 million internationally for a global start of $108.3 million.
Heading into the weekend, “Resident Evil” was tracking a US debut around $40 million to $50 million. The movie, Sony’s second recent remake and the eighth overall installment in the series, beat expectations thanks to great reviews and stellar word-of-mouth, as well as goodwill toward Cregger. The director, who broke out with 2022’s low-budget success “Barbarian,” emerged as a major force in horror after last year’s “Weapons,” which shattered projections and ignited to $43 million at the US box office. “Weapons” continued to draw crowds, ending its box office run with a mighty $270 million globally against a $38 million budget — and winning an Oscar for star Amy Madigan.
“Putting Zach Cregger in charge of a major franchise like ‘Resident Evil’ [made] something familiar feel fresh and original again,” says analyst Paul Dergarabedian, Rentrak’s head of marketplace trends. “Gen Z has also become such a major driver of the box office, and they obviously love horror movies.”
Sony shelled out $75 million for “Resident Evil,” which comes five years after the studio last attempted to reboot the property. That effort, 2021’s “Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City,” was a critical and commercial failure with $42 million worldwide against a $25 million budget. “Resident Evil” began as a 1996 video game and was first adapted for the big screen in 2002’s “Resident Evil,” starring Jovovich. She reprised her role as Alice, a former security specialist and covert operative, in five follow-up films in the 2000s and 2010s. All of the original “Resident Evil” films opened in the $20 million range (not adjusted for inflation), while “Welcome to Raccoon City” faltered with $5.3 million in its debut. “Resident Evil: Afterlife” is currently the highest-grossing instalment with $300 million globally.
In the new “Resident Evil,” Cregger reunites with “Weapons” actor Austin Abrams, who stars as a medical courier who fights through a viral outbreak of infested monsters in Raccoon City. Reviews and audience reception –“Resident Evil” has a 96% on Rotten Tomatoes and “B+” grade on CinemaScore exit polls — should continue to fuel the movie in the coming weeks.
“This is a big comeback after the previous episode stumbled during the pandemic,” says David A. Gross, who publishes the box office newsletter FranchiseRe. “Reviews are outstanding and the audience score is excellent for the genre.”
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As this weekend’s only major release, “Resident Evil” easily topped the US box office. Last weekend’s champion, “Practical Magic 2,” slid to second place with $12 million from 4,163 theatres, a 60% decline from its disappointing $30 million debut. The movie has earned $49 million in North America to date. The witchy sequel, starring Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock, isn’t connecting internationally, where the movie has generated $26.8 million from 78 markets for a global tally of $76.8 million. Warner Bros. spent a substantial $75 million to produce the second “Practical Magic,” which could struggle to get out of the red in its theatrical run since theatre owners get to keep half of ticket sales.
Third place went to “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” with $6.5 million in its eighth weekend of release. Sony’s comic book adaptation has generated a sensational $944 million in North America and recently overtook 2015’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” as the highest-grossing US release in history. Globally, Tom Holland’s Spidey adventure has earned $2.45 billion to stand as the third-largest release of all time.
“The Odyssey” was No. 4 with $4.9 million in its 10th weekend on the big screen. Christopher Nolan’s star-studded blockbuster has been another box office force with $609 million in North America and $1.72 billion globally.
“Coyote vs. Acme” rounded out the top five with $4.3 million from 3,035 venues in its fourth weekend. So far, the “Looney Tunes” spinoff has amassed $54.6 million in the US to date. Indie distributor Ketchup Entertainment nabbed the well-reviewed “Coyote vs. Acme” after Warner Bros. shelved the completed film as a $30 million tax write-off.
Among specialty releases, “The Weight,” a historical drama starring Ethan Hawke and Russell Crowe, opened in ninth place with $2.3 million from 1,504 screens. Vertical is distributing the Depression-era film, in which Hawke plays a widower who is separated from his daughter when he gets sent to a brutal work camp.
Elsewhere, John Wilson’s documentary “The History of Concrete” earned $90,000 from just one screen, New York City’s IFC Center. It’s the second-biggest weekend gross ever at the venue, following “Parasite,” which made $119,407 during one weekend in October 2019. The well-reviewed “History of Concrete,” backed by Magnolia Pictures, will expand to more markets in the coming weekends.
Now, the fall box office is hoping to keep momentum from the biggest summer season on record. Next weekend brings three new releases with Paramount’s Brad Pitt-led survival thriller “Heart of the Beast,” Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s “Forgotten Island” and A24’s “To Catch a Predator”-inspired “Primetime,” starring Robert Pattinson. That’s before Tom Cruise’s dark comedy “Digger” and Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson’s psychological thriller “Verity” kick off the month of October.
“The fact that ‘Resident Evil’ has over performed to this degree is huge for the fall box office,” says Dergarabedian. “A lot of people were looking at this calendar and saying there was going to be a big lull between the summer and the holiday season and that’s just simply not the case. I think we’re continually underestimating the potential of breakout performances throughout this entire year.”
From Variety US