Zach Cregger's Resident Evil Becomes the Highest-Grossing Film in the Franchise

Zach Cregger's Resident Evil is now the highest-grossing film in the franchise. The reboot had reached an estimated $320.2 million worldwide as of October 12, according to Netflix Junkie, split between $138.5 million domestically and $181.7 million internationally.

The previous franchise leader was Resident Evil: The Final Chapter from 2016, which earned $312.2 million worldwide, according to Parade. The new film also gives Cregger a career best, passing Weapons, which finished with about $270 million.

The film opened on September 18 with $60 million in the US and Canada, a franchise record, and about $108.3 million globally. It carries a reported budget of $75 million and opened in Japan on October 9. Sony Pictures Releasing distributes it.

Cregger co-wrote the script with Shay Hatten. Austin Abrams, Zach Cherry, Kali Reis, Paul Walter Hauser, Will Merrick and Griffin Newman star, and Sara Paxton voices Michelle. Parade also reports a 96 percent Rotten Tomatoes score, the highest in the series.

A Record Opening Sets the Pace

The run began with a Thursday night preview total of $8.8 million in 3,166 theaters, which Bloody Disgusting reported as a franchise record at the time. The weekend then finished at an estimated $60 million domestically, with Boxoffice Pro reporting another $48.3 million internationally for the $108.3 million global start. The previous domestic opening record belonged to Resident Evil: Afterlife, which debuted with $26.6 million in 2010, so the new film more than doubled it.

The global opening alone was larger than the full theatrical runs of the two earlier franchise starters. Deadline noted that the $108.3 million figure surpassed the lifetime totals of the 2002 original, at $102.9 million, and of 2021’s Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City.

Passing the Franchise’s Old Benchmarks

The film later became the first in the series to reach $100 million at the domestic box office, according to Bloody Disgusting. Until then, Afterlife held the domestic mark with $60.1 million. On the worldwide side, the franchise has long been treated as a billion-dollar property, and the Milla Jovovich-led The Final Chapter had stood as its top earner for a decade. The 2021 reboot attempt, Welcome to Raccoon City, finished with only $41.9 million worldwide, so the new film also marks a sharp reversal from the series’ most recent theatrical outing.

The Story and the Cast

Austin Abrams stars as Bryan, a late-night medical courier who is caught in the middle of a viral outbreak in Raccoon City, according to FandomWire. That focus on a new, ordinary character rather than series favorites such as Leon or Jill was noted in coverage of the opening, and it gave the film room to work as a fresh entry point instead of a continuation of earlier stories.

Reviews Helped Drive Word of Mouth

Strong reviews have supported the film’s staying power. FandomWire reports that its Rotten Tomatoes score is the best in the franchise’s history, and Bloody Disgusting’s Thursday night report connected the early ticket sales to positive reviews. Box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian told Variety that putting Cregger in charge of such a well-known property made something familiar feel fresh and original again, and he pointed to Gen Z audiences as a major driver of ticket sales.

Cregger’s Growing Box Office Record

The film adds to a run of horror hits for Cregger, who previously made Barbarian and Weapons. According to NewsBytes, Weapons finished with roughly $270 million worldwide on a $38 million budget and won an Oscar for supporting actress Amy Madigan. Resident Evil carries a larger reported budget of $75 million, but its worldwide total of more than $320 million has already put it ahead of that earlier success.

Where the Run Stands Now

By the weekend of October 16 to 18, the film was in its fifth weekend and ranked seventh on the domestic chart with $5.5 million, according to the Associated Press. That placed it behind the new opener Street Fighter, which led the weekend with $31 million. The international rollout, including the October 9 opening in Japan, continues to add to the global total.