Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil Is Tracking to Break Franchise Box-Office Records

# Quick summary Zach Cregger's Resident Evil opened with a strong first-day take and, based on early tracking, is on course for the biggest opening weekend in the franchise's history. The film's performance contrasts sharply with the 2021 reboot and follows a year where several horror films have posted unexpectedly large box-office returns.

What happened at the box office

The new Resident Evil pulled in $26.3 million domestically on its first day. Box-office tracking projected that pace to produce about a $55 million opening weekend by Sunday. If that projection holds, this would be the largest opening weekend ever for a Resident Evil film.

Why that matters: the previous weekend record for the series was set by Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010), which posted $26.6 million in its opening weekend. Cregger's film nearly matched that figure in a single day and would exceed it across the weekend.

How it compares with prior entries

• Resident Evil: Afterlife remains the franchise's previous domestic run leader with a final North American total of $60.1 million. Cregger's film is expected to surpass earlier entries during its second weekend.
• Resident Evil: Apocalypse finished with $51.2 million domestically, a figure the reboot is poised to pass.
• The 2021 reboot, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, performed poorly by comparison—$17 million domestically in its entire run and $41 million worldwide.
• America with $26.8 million domestically, though it remains the franchise's worldwide champion at $312.2 million.

Wider context: horror at the box office in 2026

The year has produced several surprise horror hits, and those results frame Cregger's film as part of a strong market for genre releases. Notable examples cited alongside Resident Evil include:

• Obsession: $516.9 million worldwide, $263.5 million domestically.
• Backrooms: $402.5 million worldwide, $197.5 million domestically.

Those titles show there's audience appetite for horror when a film connects.

Director background and expectations

Cregger's prior film Weapons (2025) is referenced as a commercial and awards success: it earned $270 million worldwide and $151.6 million domestically and won an Academy Award. That track record is offered as context for why industry observers are optimistic that the Resident Evil reboot could outperform other recent releases and possibly challenge larger franchise totals overseas if it sustains momentum.

Early follow-ups and updated tallies

Subsequent reporting in related outlets indicated the film crossed a domestic $100 million threshold and approached $200 million worldwide in later tallies, reinforcing its early commercial momentum.

Bottom line

Based on first-day receipts and early weekend tracking, Zach Cregger's Resident Evil is positioned to deliver the franchise's biggest opening weekend ever and to outpace recent reboot attempts. Continued performance overseas and in following weekends will determine whether it challenges the franchise's all-time global gross.