24 Years Later, Resident Evil’s Box Office Just Broke A Surprising Record

Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil faced an uphill battle on the path to the big screen — but after months of canon debate and outcry from die-hard Leon S. Kennedy truthers, the reboot has defied the odds and delivered one of the best video game adaptations of all time. Fans of the long-standing game franchise and normies alike are loving the film, and for good reason. Resident Evil might fudge a few canon details by setting this story in the modern day, but it’s a small nitpick for a film that otherwise reads like a top-to-bottom love letter to this 30-year-old saga. Cregger is clearly fond of the Resident Evil franchise, and that love — paired with a solid, straightforward story — has paid off in ways the on-screen RE saga has never reached before.

Resident Evil is a strong contender for the feel-bad blockbuster of the year, but it’s officially a blockbuster nonetheless. Cregger’s latest is making history for the franchise, surpassing projections to take home $60 million domestically and $108.3 million worldwide in its opening weekend.

This is a new high for any Resident Evil film. The franchise first came to the big screen in 2002, with its first film — directed by Paul W.S. Anderson and starring Milla Jovovich — collecting roughly $17 million in its opening weekend. Even as the franchise continued, scoring more lucrative commercial success, the films have never grossed more than $27 million on their opening weekends. The franchise’s most successful film, 2016’s The Final Chapter, grossed around $314 million worldwide, and Cregger’s Resident Evil is well on its way to matching (or even exceeding) that goal.

It’s kind of surreal to see the Resident Evil franchise bounce back with a combination of critical acclaim and strong word-of-mouth. The films have delivered diminishing returns almost from the very beginning, with the franchise’s absolute lowest point coming with its first misguided reboot, Welcome to Raccoon City, in 2021. Though it was far more loyal to the games than Anderson’s six-film odyssey, it had the misfortune of premiering in the thick of the pandemic, which kept it from making much of a profit. (Its 30% on Rotten Tomatoes probably didn’t help stir up curiosity, either.) Cregger’s Resident Evil is riding a perfect storm into a historic box office run; it’s almost a shame that the film was designed as a standalone story. This is exactly the kind of success that could give birth to a new on-screen world — one the fans have long been clamoring for.

Resident Evil is now playing in theaters.