This film continues to surprise.
Zach Cregger's “Resident Evil” jumped back to #1 globally this weekend with $63M worldwide, and it's now at $320M. That makes it the biggest movie of Cregger's career, topping the $270M that “Weapons” made last year.
Plot twist: China is now doing the heavy lifting, as “Resident Evil” just had a $40.6M opening over there. China loves the IP. Always has. Go back and look at the last Resident Evil, ‘The Final Chapter,’ back in 2017. That film made $159M in China alone.
In the US, the film is holding up well: $8.3M this weekend from 3,000+ locations, down only 34%. The domestic total is at $138M. Horror movies don't usually hold like that in week four. People are telling their friends to go see it. More good news: Halloween is just around the corner, so it might have a strong hold that weekend.
So where does this end up? I think $100M+ in China is very doable. Tack on another $20M or so domestically, plus the international holdovers, and you're at $400M minimum. $500M? That's a possibility as well, but China would need to go full 2017.
Cregger’s movie was made for $75M, by the way. Sony must be ecstatic about the results.
That said, they will obviously want a sequel. The question is whether Cregger wants to come back, or if he's already moved on from IP filmmaking. My guess? He's done with franchises, for a while at least. The biggest mistake Sony could make would be to hire another director for the sequel. Cregger has pull, and I just can’t see any other director being a good replacement.
Up next for Cregger is “The Flood,” a mind-bending original sci-fi film starring Jennifer Lawrence, set to shoot next year. He recently mentioned that he’s done with franchise filmmaking, but you can bet Sony, who paid him $20M to direct “Resident Evil,” will be upping the fee to get him back for the next instalment.
Universal has dropped the first trailer for "River," the Joshua Giuliano slasher that became TIFF 2026's biggest sale when Jason Blum and Universal paid $10M+ for it in September.