{"id":898324,"date":"2026-09-16T20:30:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T20:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/898324\/"},"modified":"2026-09-16T20:30:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T20:30:10","slug":"resident-evil-box-office-zach-creggers-reboot-to-lead-in-opening-weekend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/898324\/","title":{"rendered":"Resident Evil Box Office: Zach Cregger’s Reboot to Lead in Opening Weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tMovie theater operators are counting on \u201cResident Evil<\/a>\u201d to scare some life into the early fall box office. <\/p>\n

\n\tSony\u2019s horror-comedy reboot of the zombie-infested property is targeting a strong $40 million to $50 million in its domestic debut. With strong reviews and glowing word-of-mouth, rivals and independent tracking services believe that initial ticket sales will surpass $50 million and could near $60 million.<\/p>\n

\n\tSony spent $75 million to produce the movie, the second remake and eighth installment in the horror series. Exhibitors are particularly excited because this take on \u201cResident Evil\u201d was directed by Zach Cregger, who electrified the box office with last August\u2019s breakout hit \u201cWeapons.\u201d That R-rated movie, an original thriller about students who went missing in the middle of the night, opened to $43 million en route to sleeper hit status. \u201cWeapons\u201d ended its box office run with a mighty $270 million globally against a $38 million budget and won an Oscar for Amy Madigan. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cResident Evil\u201d began as a 1996 video game and expanded into a multimedia franchise that spans sequel games and film and television adaptations. The property was first adapted for the big screen in 2002\u2019s \u201cResident Evil,\u201d starring Milla Jovovich. She reprised her role as Alice, a former security specialist and covert operative, in five follow-up films in the 2000s and 2010s. Those movies collectively generated $1 billion globally and were once the highest-grossing series based on video games. Sony attempted to reboot the property with 2021\u2019s \u201cResident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City,\u201d a critical and commercial failure with $42 million worldwide against a $25 million budget. All of the original \u201cResident Evil\u201d films opened in the $20 million range (not adjusted for inflation), while \u201cWelcome to Raccoon City\u201d faltered with $5.3 million in its debut, so this reboot will easily rank as the largest opening weekend in the long-running franchise. The highest grossing installment is 2010\u2019s \u201cResident Evil: Afterlife,\u201d which launched to $26 million domestically and ended its theatrical run with $300 million globally.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the new \u201cResident Evil,\u201d Cregger reunites with \u201cWeapons\u201d actor Austin Abrams, who stars as a medical courier who fights through a viral outbreak of infested monsters in Raccoon City. Critics have praised the cinematic gorefest, with Variety\u2019s Owen Gleiberman<\/a> calling it \u201cdifferent, and much better, than the other \u2018Resident Evil\u2019 movies.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAs this weekend\u2019s only major release, \u201cResident Evil\u201d won\u2019t have any trouble securing the No. 1 spot on domestic box office charts. Elsewhere, \u201cPractical Magic 2\u201d will attempt to rebound after a rough start while mid-summer holdovers like \u201cSpider-Man: Brand New Day\u201d and \u201cThe Odyssey\u201d will remain atop box office charts. <\/p>\n

\n\tAlthough this weekend is light on newcomers, the fall box office is expected to heat up before September ends. Next weekend brings a trio of new movies, including Paramount\u2019s Brad Pitt-led survival thriller \u201cHeart of the Beast,\u201d Universal and DreamWorks Animation\u2019s \u201cForgotten Island\u201d and A24\u2019s \u201cTo Catch a Predator\u201d-inspired \u201cPrimetime,\u201d starring Robert Pattinson. There\u2019s also Disney\u2019s re-release of \u201cAvengers: Endgame,\u201d which is returning to theaters before \u201cAvengers: Doomsday\u201d opens in December. In the meantime, it\u2019s Cregger and his band of zombie slayers to the rescue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Movie theater operators are counting on \u201cResident Evil\u201d to scare some life into the early fall box office.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":898325,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[49,48,75,337,38309],"class_list":["post-898324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment","tag-movies","tag-resident-evil"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/898324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=898324"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/898324\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/898325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=898324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=898324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=898324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}