Resident Evil Opens to Record $106.5M Worldwide as Spider-Man: Brand New Day Becomes Biggest Domestic Release Ever
Zach Cregger's Resident Evil scored the franchise's biggest opening with $106.5 million worldwide, while Spider-Man: Brand New Day dethroned The Force Awakens as the highest-grossing domestic release of all time. Practical Magic 2 suffered a steep second-weekend drop.
Zach Cregger's reimagining of Resident Evil delivered a franchise-record opening at the global box office, while Spider-Man: Brand New Day officially became the highest-grossing domestic release in history, according to studio estimates for the September 18-20 weekend.
Sony's Resident Evil debuted at No. 1 with $60.1 million from 3,684 theaters domestically and $106.5 million worldwide. The domestic figure marks the biggest opening ever for the Resident Evil franchise, surpassing Resident Evil: Afterlife, which had held the franchise record with $60.1 million in total domestic gross. The new film has already overtaken Afterlife's entire domestic run by a margin of just $24,312, underscoring how dramatically the series has been repositioned.
The opening also represents the biggest debut of Cregger's career, topping Weapons ($43.5 million) and Barbarian ($10.5 million). Sony marketed the film as a mid-sized horror blockbuster rather than an action spectacle, focusing on a lead character attempting to escape Raccoon City while pursued by mutated zombies. That approach appears to have paid off: the film holds a 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an 81 on Metacritic, both records for a video game adaptation.
According to Sony, 66% of the audience was male and 64% was 25 or older. About 36% of attendees had played at least one game in the series, while an estimated 37% said they bought tickets because of Cregger. Audiences gave the film a B+ CinemaScore, below the A- for Weapons but higher than any previous Resident Evil installment. The film is projected to reach $150 million domestically.
The weekend's top 10 earned a combined $101.7 million, up 55.7% from the same frame last year. The contrast was stark: last year, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle repeated at No. 1 while Him disappointed.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day added $6.4 million in its latest frame, a decline of just 24%, bringing its domestic total to $944.4 million. That officially dethrones Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($936 million) as the biggest domestic release of all time. In terms of actual ticket sales, The Force Awakens remains far ahead, but the record now belongs to Spider-Man. The film is expected to finish around $965 million domestically.
Practical Magic 2, last week's champion, collapsed in its second weekend with $12.1 million, a 59% drop. That decline is steeper than recent legacy sequels such as Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (54%), Blade Runner 2049 (53%) and The Devil Wears Prada 2 (46%). Through 10 days, the film has earned $50 million domestically. While it has passed the original's $46.7 million domestic gross, it trails far behind when adjusted for inflation ($96 million). With mixed word of mouth and more female-skewing options arriving, the sequel is projected to finish just above $70 million domestically, meaning lower attendance than the 1998 original. Its weak overseas performance adds to Warner Bros.' recent struggles; the studio remains the only major outfit without a $100 million grosser this year.
Elsewhere, The Odyssey dropped 35% to $4.9 million, a solid hold given it lost IMAX screens to Resident Evil. It now stands at $609.8 million domestically and is aiming for $630 million. Coyote vs. Acme eased 31% to $4.4 million, bringing its total to $54.7 million ahead of expected competition from Forgotten Island. Daniel and the Fiery Furnace debuted in seventh place with $3.3 million from 1,525 theaters. Angel Studios' Runner fell 53% to $3 million, reaching $11.8 million after 10 days. Fathom Events' 40th-anniversary re-release of The Transformers: The Movie earned $3.1 million ($4.1 million including Thursday), lifting its lifetime domestic gross to $10 million. Vertical's The Weight, starring Ethan Hawke and Russell Crowe, opened in ninth place with a disappointing $2.6 million.
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