Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil has done something no film in the franchise’s twenty five year history has managed: cross $100 million at the domestic box office. The Sony Pictures release reached $103.4 million in the United States and Canada during its second weekend in theatres, according to studio estimates reported September 28, passing the previous franchise high of $60.1 million domestic, set by Resident Evil: Afterlife in 2010.
The film opened with roughly $60 million domestically on its first weekend, a number that already outpaced every prior entry, and it has continued holding through strong word of mouth. Worldwide, Resident Evil has taken in an estimated $196.4 million against a reported $75 million production budget, putting it within range of the franchise’s all time global record of $312.2 million, set by Resident Evil: The Final Chapter in 2016.
Cregger, who broke out with Barbarian and followed it with Weapons, directs this version as a harder edged reboot rather than a continuation of the Milla Jovovich series, built around Austin Abrams as medical courier Bryan, with Zach Cherry, Kali Reis, and Paul Walter Hauser filling out Umbrella Corporation’s ranks. The film’s practical effects have drawn nearly as much attention as the numbers: Cregger has said its sewer set piece monster was built as a 2,000 pound puppet requiring four operators, courtesy of the effects house Legacy Effects.
The film holds a 95 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the best score any Resident Evil movie, and arguably any video game adaptation.
