Only a few days ago, it was hard to know what this new Resident Evil would actually amount to. Zach Cregger's film may have had the director of Barbarian and Weapons behind it — two horror titles that made a real impression — but Sony Pictures' marketing push was oddly muted, and the chatter on social media hardly pointed to enormous excitement. After the failure of Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City in 2021, the film franchise clearly needed to win its audience back. And in the end, the result was on another level entirely, because the new Resident Evil has just posted the biggest opening of the whole saga.
The film took $60 million in its first weekend in the United States, plus another $48.3 million internationally, for a worldwide total of $108.3 million. More to the point, early reactions from critics and audiences are far more enthusiastic than for previous instalments. After raising doubts for so long, Zach Cregger's film looks to have pulled it off.
An opening that crushes the previous films
With $60 million in its domestic market (that's the US, to be clear), the new Resident Evil beats every one of its predecessors. The first film, released in 2002, opened at $17.7 million, while Resident Evil: Apocalypse managed $23 million. Even Resident Evil: Afterlife, which held the record until now with $26.6 million in its opening weekend, has been left well behind. With a reported budget of around $75 million, that's a particularly solid start. And the best may be still to come, since the film is enjoying far better word of mouth than earlier entries, which could keep it in cinemas for a good while.
It will obviously take several weeks to know whether this new Resident Evil can settle in among the franchise's biggest successes. The worldwide records are still some way off, with $240.6 million for Resident Evil: Retribution, $295.8 million for Afterlife and, above all, $314.1 million for The Final Chapter, which benefited from especially strong takings in China. But the most important thing lies elsewhere: after several years of doubt and a franchise that seemed to have lost its audience, Resident Evil has genuine momentum again. Zach Cregger had one hell of a weight on his shoulders, and for now, the director looks to have nailed it. Take a bow.
