Resident Evil is tracking a 40 million dollar opening — the franchise record has stood at 26.6 million since 2010
Box office predictions tip Zach Cregger’s radical new take on Resident Evil for the franchise’s biggest opening yet, and the projected haul is heftier than you might expect.
Right, so after Practical Magic 2 staggered out of the gate last weekend and failed to cast much of a spell on the box office, here comes a genuine curveball: Resident Evil is back up and breathing, but not in the way anyone really expected. Zach Cregger – yes, the same bloke who gave us Barbarian and the upcoming Weapons – is having a crack at the franchise with a standalone film that steers well clear of the Paul W.S. Anderson continuity. It’s a complete reset, meant to recapture the feeling you got the very first time you tiptoed through Spencer Mansion on your PlayStation, with all the dread and jump scares that entails.
Resident Evil will easily set a franchise record this weekend.
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Early signs? Practically glowing feedback from critics – including ours, if you’re curious – and the numbers are already looking like they’ll blow every previous Resident Evil box office opening out of the water. The safe bet is a $40 million debut, but with these reviews and fan buzz, there’s a shot it could reach $50 million or even higher if everything clicks. For context, the best opening weekend this series ever managed was Resident Evil: Afterlife in 2010, which pulled in $26.6 million. Contrast that with the miserable $5.32 million scrape together by the last reboot attempt, Welcome to Raccoon City, and you see just how much of a turnaround this is.
Resident Evil's previous best opening, Afterlife, made $26.6 million back in 2010.
Box office rundown
As for Cregger himself, his last horror outing, Weapons, made a respectable $43.5 million when it launched in the prime summer slot. There’s every chance Resident Evil might even push past that figure in its own opening act.
If you’re tracking the rest of the top five this weekend, it goes something like this:
- Resident Evil - $40 million opening (possibly higher if word of mouth really catches fire)
- Practical Magic 2 - looking at a harsh drop to $15 million, down at least 50% in its second week
- Spider-Man: Brand New Day - still raking it in at $5 million, cementing its place as the highest-grossing film ever in the States
- The Odyssey - tracking at $4.5 million
- Coyote vs. Acme - rounding out with $4 million
Not every week you see a dormant horror series claw past both a new Practical Magic and a record-breaking superhero film, is it?