Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil opened to $26. 3 million on Friday from 3,684 theaters, marking the biggest single day the franchise has ever posted in North America. This performance immediately sets a new benchmark for the series, surpassing previous records established by earlier entries.
Sony projects a three-day weekend total between $53 million and $55 million. However, rival analysts have the film running closer to $60 million, with Deadline’s published range covering both ends at $53 million to $60 million. The gap between these projections will close by Sunday afternoon, providing a clearer picture of the film’s overall opening performance.
The previous franchise high was Resident Evil: Afterlife, which opened to $26. 6 million across three days in September 2010. Adjusted for inflation, that figure is roughly $40. 9 million in today’s money per TheWrap. Cregger’s film achieved nearly all of that amount on a single Friday, demonstrating a much stronger immediate draw.
A more instructive comparison is the most recent entry, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, which opened to $5. 3 million in November 2021. Five years later, the same property is opening roughly ten times higher. The performance gap between the two films is stark.
The film earned a B+ CinemaScore, the highest grade in the franchise’s history and an unusual one for an R-rated horror release. That category tends to sit around C+, as horror audiences often punish films that work on them. This score is the single best indicator that the weekend will land at the top of Sony’s projected range rather than the bottom.