Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil has opened far beyond any previous movie in the horror franchise.
Sony’s new film earned an estimated $60 million from 3,684 theaters in the United States and Canada over its opening weekend, according to the Associated Press. International audiences contributed another $48.3 million, bringing the worldwide debut to approximately $108.3 million.
The opening also gives Cregger the biggest domestic debut of his directing career. His previous high was Weapons, which opened to $43.5 million in August 2025.
Before Cregger’s reboot, 2010’s Resident Evil: Afterlife held the franchise opening record with approximately $26.6 million. The new movie more than doubled that total in three days and came within roughly $100,000 of Afterlife‘s entire $60.1 million North American theatrical run.
The Reboot More Than Doubled the Franchise’s Previous Opening Record
Resident Evil finished far ahead of the rest of the weekend’s domestic box office. Practical Magic 2 took second place with approximately $12.2 million, followed by Spider-Man: Brand New Day with $6.5 million. The Odyssey and Coyote vs. Acme completed the top five.
Several earlier Resident Evil movies failed to earn $60 million during their entire North American runs. The 2002 original finished with about $40 million domestically, while Resident Evil: Apocalypse and Resident Evil: Extinction each ended near $50 million.
The new film was produced for approximately $75 million before marketing expenses, according to AP. Its $108.3 million worldwide opening has already surpassed the 2002 film’s complete global theatrical gross.
Cregger’s movie also represents a sharp turnaround from the franchise’s previous live-action installment. Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City opened with approximately $5.3 million domestically in 2021.
Cregger Built a New Story Around Austin Abrams
Cregger did not continue the storyline built around Milla Jovovich’s Alice or directly recreate the plot of one of Capcom’s games. The Sony Pictures synopsis describes the movie as an original story following Bryan, a medical courier played by Austin Abrams who becomes trapped in an escalating outbreak while trying to complete a delivery.
Abrams leads a cast that includes Zach Cherry, Kali Reis and Paul Walter Hauser. Cregger co-wrote the screenplay with Shay Hatten after previously directing Barbarian and Weapons.
The filmmaker has said he approached the property as a longtime fan of the games even though he had not watched the previous Resident Evil movies. His version incorporates recognizable elements of the games while building a separate protagonist and story.
Critical reception has also been unusually strong for the live-action franchise. AP reported that the film held a 95% Rotten Tomatoes score over opening weekend, while audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave it a B+.
Horror Movies Have Already Earned More Than $1.1 Billion in 2026
The new Resident Evil arrives during another major year for horror at the North American box office.
Films in the genre have generated roughly $1.16 billion domestically in 2026, according to Entertainment Weekly. That total has already reached the benchmark set by horror releases in 2017 with more than three months remaining in the year.
Other 2026 horror releases contributing to the total include Obsession and Backrooms, while additional genre films are still scheduled to reach theaters before the end of December.
Resident Evil‘s $60 million domestic opening was Sony’s Sunday estimate for the Sept. 18 through Sept. 20 weekend, with final weekend figures subject to the industry’s usual Monday adjustments.