Sony/Columbia’s new take on Capcom’s horror property opened to $26.3 million from 3,684 North American locations on Friday, the biggest single-day gross for any Resident Evil film. Sony projects a $53 million to $55 million domestic weekend, while some theatrical sources expect stronger Saturday and Sunday totals to push the frame toward $60 million. Either result would be a career-best opening for director Zach Cregger.
For ScreenStat readers, the number worth watching is the Friday-to-Sunday multiple. A $53 million to $55 million finish implies a roughly 2.0x to 2.1x multiple. A $60 million result would stretch that to about 2.3x. For a horror title with strong word of mouth, the higher end signals a film that is behaving less like a front-loaded fan event and more like a broad theatrical play.
A franchise record with an inflation footnote
The projected weekend would pass the previous franchise opening weekend set by Resident Evil: Afterlife in 2010, which took in $26.6 million. Adjusted for inflation, that 2010 result is roughly $40.9 million. So the nominal franchise weekend record changes hands; in real terms, the older film set a much higher bar. That distinction matters when comparing box office eras.
Why reception changes the math
The earlier Milla Jovovich era produced consistent mid-level grosses despite weak reviews. This reboot arrives with a different commercial profile: a 96% critics score and 91% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, a B+ CinemaScore and 4.5/5 on PostTrak. Those marks are unusual for a video-game adaptation and create a word-of-mouth asset that could help the film leg out into October as a Halloween title, even with Universal/Blumhouse’s Other Mommy and Warner Bros./DC’s Clayface arriving next month.
- Opening day: $26.3 million from 3,684 locations
- Projected weekend range: $53 million to $60 million
- Production budget: $75 million, with TriStar, Constantin and Davis Films; Vertigo as co-producer
- Reception signals: 96% critics, 91% audience, B+ CinemaScore, 4.5/5 PostTrak
The wider weekend
Warner Bros./Alcon’s Practical Magic 2 is expected to fall about 65% in its second frame to an estimated $10.4 million, bringing its domestic total to $48.2 million against a $75 million budget. The sequel is holding the original’s core fans but not broadening to a wider female audience. Legacy appeal alone is proving insufficient at this budget level.
With Resident Evil contributing more than half of all weekend grosses, the overall market is set to reach around $111 million. That would be up 27% from last weekend and 45% from the same mid-September frame in 2025. A single title driving most of that gain is both a positive and a concentration risk.
What to watch next
For media planners and entertainment marketers, the next data point is the actual weekend print. If the film lands near $60 million, expect the campaign to pivot toward Halloween retention. If it lands near $53 million, international markets will need to do more heavy lifting against the $75 million production budget.
This is a useful case study in how critical reception and audience scores can alter a franchise’s box office trajectory when known IP returns with a different creative team.
Source: TheWrap
