Surprise: Resident Evil just steamrolled franchise records at the box office
Buoyed by rave reviews and cracking word-of-mouth, Resident Evil is storming the box office, with a new franchise record looking like a formality.
Time for a bit of a shocker at the box office this weekend. Resident Evil has completely smashed every expectation — and frankly, that’s saying something for a franchise that’s been running on nostalgic fumes for years. People thought the new film might do well; no one thought it would practically torch the record books.
$53 million opening puts this Resident Evil miles beyond the entire series — nearly double the previous best.
Resident Evil obliterates the competition
Let’s start with the headline figure: $53 million for its opening weekend (and depending on Saturday’s numbers, some reckon it might even nudge up to $60 million). That blows past the old series record set by Resident Evil: Afterlife all the way back in 2010, which opened at $26.6 million. Even more brutal — it’s about ten times higher than the disaster launch for the last entry, Welcome to Raccoon City, which trickled in with $5.32 million. Not bad for a franchise people kept declaring dead.
This fresh take is also looking at numbers about $10 million fatter than Zach Cregger’s previous film, Weapons, which ended its run with $151 million in the bank. Clearly, Cregger isn’t just a flash in the pan. The audience actually likes what they’re seeing too — this latest Resident Evil scored a B+ on CinemaScore, which, not to put too fine a point on it, is the highest mark this series has ever managed (and genuinely solid for horror). Hard to argue with momentum like that.
Where the rest landed
If you’re wondering about last weekend’s topper, Practical Magic 2 has fallen off a cliff — down 64% for a $10.8 million follow-up and just $48 million total. Yikes. In third it’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day swinging in with $6.3 million as its domestic haul creeps up toward that magical billion mark; as of now, it’s on $944 million.
Right behind, The Odyssey banked $5 million bringing its impressive total to $609 million. And for those sick of the sequels, there’s a sleeper hit bubbling away below the main fray: Coyote vs. Acme continues its quiet climb, now sitting at $54 million from a $4.2 million weekend. Not massive, but for Ketchup Entertainment it’s practically a windfall.
- Runner from Angel Studios (starring Alan Ritchson) dropped 55%, pulling just $2.9 million — its entire take sits at $11 million: could be better, could be much worse.
- On a more painful note, The Weight — arguably one of the best-reviewed releases this week — had a rubbish start, opening at only $2.55 million. Sometimes quality just doesn’t pay the bills.
- And then, of all things, Fathom’s re-release of Transformers: The Movie (yes, the animated one from the ‘80s) scrounged up $2.9 million. There’s always a slightly weird crowd for that sort of thing.