CULVER CITY, September 20 — Sony’s Resident Evil reboot, directed by Zach Cregger, opened to $60 million in its domestic debut over the weekend ending September 20, 2026, the largest opening in the 24-year history of the horror franchise, according to Variety. The story begins with a number that nobody in the industry saw coming. Pre-release tracking had projected a domestic debut of $40 million to $50 million.
The film nearly cleared the top of that range by a wide margin, and it did so on a weekend when the franchise had every reason to be cautious about its own future.
A franchise record, and a second attempt at a reboot
The previous franchise record holder was 2010’s Resident Evil: Afterlife, starring Milla Jovovich, which opened to $26 million (not adjusted for inflation). That figure stood for sixteen years. It did not survive the weekend.
Internationally, the new Resident Evil collected $48.3 million, bringing its global opening to $108.3 million. Sony spent $75 million on the production.
The film is Sony’s second recent attempt to reboot the property and the eighth overall installment in the series. The first attempt did not go well. 2021’s Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City was a critical and commercial failure, grossing $42 million worldwide against a $25 million budget. For those involved, the contrast between that result and this weekend’s is the whole story.
From Barbarian to a franchise in Cregger’s hands
At its heart, this is a story about a director. Zach Cregger first broke out with the 2022 low-budget horror hit Barbarian. His 2025 film Weapons shattered projections with a $43 million domestic opening and went on to gross $270 million globally against a $38 million budget, winning an Oscar for star Amy Madigan.
Analyst Paul Dergarabedian, Rentrak’s head of marketplace trends, attributed the reboot’s success to putting Cregger in charge of the franchise, saying it made something familiar feel fresh and original again. He also noted that Gen Z has become a major driver of the box office and loves horror movies.
The strong opening was also credited to great reviews, stellar word-of-mouth, and goodwill toward Cregger. The franchise itself is older than most of the audience that turned out this weekend. It began as a 1996 video game and was first adapted for the screen in 2002’s Resident Evil, starring Milla Jovovich as Alice, a former security specialist and covert operative.
Jovovich reprised the role in five follow-up films released in the 2000s and 2010s. The film opened in theaters across the United States and internationally on the weekend of September 18-20, 2026.
What to watch next is whether the reboot holds. A $60 million domestic debut against $75 million in production costs leaves the film’s final position resting on the weeks ahead, and on whether the audience Cregger brought in comes back for whatever Sony decides to do with the property next.
