Resident Evil hit the ground running in its box office opening as the reboot far outstripped initial expectations in setting a franchise high, representing a rarity for a horror series’ eighth installment.
Writer-director Zach Cregger‘s horror-survival video game adaptation grossed $60 million in its three-day debut weekend to top the North American chart. This is far above the $40 million that Sony Pictures had initially projected and even an improvement on the $53 million to $55 million range that the studio was expecting as of Saturday. Earning a B+ CinemaScore from audiences, Resident Evil’s audience skewed younger and male as it opened in 3,684 North American theaters and carries a $75 million production budget.
It’s not just that the 2026 Resident Evil notched the highest-grossing opening in the history of the franchise that kicked off with director Paul W.S. Anderson’s 2002 movie of the same name. In fact, the new one’s opening came just shy of the entire $60.1 million domestic run for the previously highest-grossing entry, Resident Evil: Afterlife, meaning that the weekend launch for Cregger’s film came close to matching the lifetime gross for every past installment, according to Rentrak. Milla Jovovich starred in the first film and its five sequels before the 2021 reboot, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, which underperformed. The series’ previous titles have collectively grossed more than $1.2 billion worldwide.
The domestic audience for the new Resident Evil was 65 percent male, while 74 percent of the movie’s ticket buyers were under age 35. Internationally, the latest reboot added $43.8 million from 62 overseas markets.
Now, a key question becomes the status of a possible sequel and whether the in-demand Cregger, whose forthcoming projects include The Flood and a prequel for Weapons breakout Gladys, would return. “I can’t help thinking about other places this story could go,” Cregger told The Playlist prior to the release when asked if he would continue to be involved in the Resident Evil franchise.
Indeed, Cregger’s hot streak continues, as Resident Evil marks his biggest opening ever, besting the impressive $43.5 million debut weekend for his previous title, the Oscar-winning Weapons, which Warner Bros. released in August 2025. Hailing from TriStar Pictures, Constantin Film and Davis Film, Resident Evil stars Austin Abrams, Zach Cherry, Kali Reis and Paul Walter Hauser in the story of a medical courier (Abrams) attempting to deliver a precious item in the midst of a deadly viral outbreak in Raccoon City.
Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock in Practical Magic 2.
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
The new Resident Evil also gives Cregger his best-reviewed title yet, becoming the first installment in the franchise to impress critics. This one holds a 96 percent approval rating from reviewers on Rotten Tomatoes, making it the year’s top-reviewed horror release, along with a 92 percent audience score. In his review for The Hollywood Reporter, critic Frank Scheck noted that Cregger “crafted a propulsive, simultaneously terrifying and hilarious thrill ride that showcases both his cinematic chops and perverse sense of humor.”
Conjuring up a second-place finish is the sophomore frame for Warner Bros.’ Practical Magic 2, which is set to collect around $12.2 million from the weekend to bring its domestic total to roughly $50 million. Starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman, the sequel to the 1998 original looks to decline around 59 percent amid a run that will have already surpassed the first film’s $46.7 million North American cume.
Having recently hit No. 1 on the all-time domestic chart, Sony’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day swung to third place with $6.5 million in its eighth weekend, the first six of which saw it leading the box office. The Tom Holland-led blockbuster that hails from Marvel Studios will take its North American total to around $944.5 million in its record-setting run. A remaining question is whether Brand New Day has the potential to become the first title to reach the billion-dollar mark domestically.
Still going strong in its 10th weekend is Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey. Universal’s highest-grossing film ever conquered an estimated $4.9 million for fourth place, as its domestic journey sits at $609.7 million.
Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom
Closing out the top five is the resilient Coyote vs. Acme, with the Ketchup Entertainment release notching $4.3 million domestically in its fourth weekend. Emerging as a continued draw for families, the movie’s total run heads to roughly $54.6 million in North America after the Looney Tunes feature was rescued from becoming a tax write-off for Warner Bros. Discovery.
Fans of Transformers: The Movie have supported this weekend’s 40th anniversary rerelease. The 1986 animated film collected $3.3 million for Fathom Entertainment in sixth place.
Ethan Hawke and Russell Crowe lead Vertical’s The Weight, which opened at No. 9 with $2.3 million from 1,504 North American screens. The thriller holds a 93 percent approval rating from Rotten Tomatoes reviewers, although THR’s chief film critic David Rooney noted that it “lacks weight.”
In 10th place is horror-comedy Buddy, extending its strong run with $1.9 million for a domestic cume of $24.8 million. This puts Casper Kelly’s twisted look at children’s television as Roadside Attractions’ third-highest-grossing title ever, passing Judy to rank behind I Can Only Imagine in first place and runner-up Manchester by the Sea.
Making this a rare year with more than one sheep-centric feature in wide release — following May’s The Sheep Detectives — is Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom, a StudioCanal and Aardman production that hits theaters stateside from GKIDS. Earning a B+ CinemaScore, the stop-motion animated sequel looks to gross a disappointing $1.9 million from 2,173 North American locations to fall just outside of the top 10.
Debuting on just one screen was filmmaker John Wilson’s The History of Concrete, with the Magnolia Pictures release scoring $90,000 from the IFC Center in New York City. This becomes that theater’s second-biggest opening weekend ever, behind only 2019’s Parasite. Next weekend, the documentary expands to Los Angeles and additional cities.
Horror movies continue to build on a strong year as 2026’s titles in the genre collectively stand at roughly $1.166 billion, according to Rentrak. This surpasses the total domestic horror gross for all of 2017, which marked the first billion-dollar year for the genre, and puts 2026 at 82 percent of last year’s record $1.426 billion for horror features. Among the releases still on the horizon is Jessica Chastain’s Other Mommy, hitting theaters Oct. 9 from Universal.
Next weekend sees the releases of Paramount’s Brad Pitt-led Heart of the Beast, DreamWorks Animation’s Forgotten Island, A24’s Robert Pattinson-starring Primetime and Marvel Studios’ Avengers Endgame: Encore.
This story was first published on Sept. 19 at 8:22 a.m.