Zach Cregger’s new Resident Evil has delivered a major opening at the North American box office, giving the long-running video game movie franchise its biggest opening weekend to date. The horror reboot earned an estimated $60 million from 3,684 theatres across the United States and Canada during its first weekend in cinemas.
The result marks a significant change for the Resident Evil film series, which began its theatrical run in 2002. The latest film is the eighth movie adaptation of the popular video game franchise and introduces a new creative direction under filmmaker Zach Cregger.
The previous record for the franchise’s opening weekend was held by Resident Evil: Afterlife, the 2010 film starring Milla Jovovich. Afterlife opened to approximately $26.6 million in North America. Cregger’s new Resident Evil has more than doubled that opening figure, making the 2026 release the strongest theatrical launch in the franchise’s history.
However, the comparison requires some clarification. While the new film has achieved the franchise’s biggest opening weekend, Resident Evil: Afterlife finished its entire domestic theatrical run with approximately $60.1 million. Therefore, the new film’s $60 million opening weekend is already very close to Afterlife’s total North American lifetime gross.
The new Resident Evil also performed strongly outside North America. According to box-office data, the film collected approximately $48.3 million from international markets during its opening period. Combined with its $60 million domestic opening, the movie reached an estimated worldwide total of $108.3 million.
The film was released in the United States and Canada on September 18, 2026, with previews beginning before the official opening. The movie recorded approximately $8.8 million from preview screenings, contributing to its strong first-weekend performance.
Resident Evil is directed and co-written by Zach Cregger, who previously gained attention in the horror genre with films including Barbarian and Weapons. The new movie stars Austin Abrams in the lead role as Bryan, a medical courier who becomes caught in a dangerous situation following a catastrophic outbreak.
Unlike the earlier Resident Evil films led by Milla Jovovich, Cregger’s movie takes the franchise in a different creative direction. The story focuses on a new group of characters and presents a fresh interpretation of the survival-horror world associated with the video game series.
The strong opening is also notable because the franchise had experienced mixed box-office results in recent years. Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, released in 2021, opened to approximately $5.3 million domestically and had a comparatively modest theatrical run. The latest film has therefore recorded a substantially larger opening than that previous reboot attempt.
The new film’s opening also represents the biggest domestic debut of Cregger’s filmmaking career. His previous movie Weapons opened to approximately $43.5 million domestically in 2025. Resident Evil has now surpassed that figure during its first weekend alone.
Early audience and critical responses have also been positive. The movie reportedly received a B+ CinemaScore from opening-weekend audiences, while its Rotten Tomatoes score was around 95 percent at the time of the latest reports. These figures can change as additional reviews and audience responses are added.
The Resident Evil franchise has remained commercially significant for Sony Pictures despite changes in its creative direction over the years. The previous highest worldwide grosser in the film series was Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, which earned approximately $312.2 million worldwide in 2016.
With its $108.3 million worldwide opening, the new Resident Evil has made a strong beginning toward potentially becoming one of the franchise’s highest-grossing films. Its final box-office performance will depend on audience interest during the coming weeks, competition from other releases and the film’s performance in international markets.
For now, the major box-office milestone is clear. Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil has recorded the biggest opening weekend ever for a Resident Evil movie, surpassing the previous opening record set by Milla Jovovich’s Resident Evil: Afterlife in 2010. The film’s $60 million North American debut, combined with its $48.3 million international earnings, has given the reboot a reported worldwide opening of $108.3 million.