Resident Evil made $400M on a $75M budget — and Zach Cregger isn’t walking away

Here we go again: Resident Evil has shambled back to cinemas, this time rebooted and spruced up by director Zach Cregger. After the film’s absolute juggernaut of a box office run, there’s the inevitable chatter about fresh sequels—because when has Hollywood ever seen a successful franchise it didn’t want to stretch to breaking?

Produced on a $75 million budget, Resident Evil has already raked in $400 million worldwide.

Cregger on His Future with Resident Evil

Zach Cregger recently pitched up on Matt Belloni’s podcast, The Town, where he got grilled about whether he’d stick around for more films if Sony Pictures keeps this franchise rolling. Belloni basically put it to him: would Cregger be happy to just quietly produce a handful of Resident Evil flicks, or would he insist on guiding the thing himself?

Cregger wasn’t shy about his desire to keep his fingerprints on the series. Here’s how he handled the question on the podcast:

‘I would want to have some hand in them. I can’t help but have an idea for where that franchise, I’m calling it a franchise, where that could go.’

So no, he’s not exactly running for the exit. But Cregger stopped short of outright promising he’ll direct every potential sequel. If Sony wants to churn these out without him in the director’s chair, he still wants to be pulling a few creative strings behind the scenes.

Sequel Set-Up and Familiar Characters

The ending of this 2026 reboot more or less puts up neon lights saying ‘sequel incoming’. You’ve got Austin Abrams as Bryan, slogging through the corpse-riddled streets of Raccoon City, getting bitten, and eventually mutating into some towering monstrosity after the virus takes hold. That cliffhanger pretty much demands a follow-up, doesn’t it?

The one thing we don’t have clarity on yet: whether any actual fan favourites from the games are getting proper screen time if and when a sequel rolls around. Characters like Leon S. Kennedy, Claire Redfield, Ada Wong, and Chris Redfield are still on the bench for now—no confirmation on their future just yet.

• The film launched on a $75 million budget, making back over $400 million globally
• Cregger wants a say in sequels, but hasn’t promised to direct again
• The story’s ending leaves the franchise wide open for more films
• No word yet on which classic Resident Evil characters could show up next

If you fancy catching Resident Evil on the big screen, it’s still in cinemas now. It’ll be turning up on digital platforms from 3 November 2026.