'Resident Evil' Sets Franchise Box Office Record With $26.3 Million Opening Day
Crono ·
TheWrap
Amidst the best critical and audience reception ever received for a film bearing the name of Capcom’s horror video game series, Sony Pictures’ “Resident Evil” has earned a $26.3 million opening day from 3,684 locations, setting a new franchise record.
From this start, Sony is projecting a domestic opening weekend of $53-55 million while industry estimates and theatrical sources are predicting that stronger Saturday and Sunday totals will bring a $60 million weekend. Either result is a career record for director Zach Cregger and a franchise record for “Resident Evil,” passing the $26.6 million mark set by Paul W.S. Anderson’s “Resident Evil: Afterlife” in 2010, which equates roughly to $40.9 million after inflation adjustment.
Through the 2000s, “Resident Evil” at the box office was associated with the Milla Jovovich series of films that made decent money amidst weak reviews. That’s not the case with Cregger’s film, which holds a strong 96% critics and 91% audience Rotten Tomatoes score alongside a B+ on CinemaScore and 4.5/5 on PostTrak.