Resident Evil reboot chases $50 million domestic opening
Sony's Resident Evil reboot is aiming for a $40 million to $50 million opening weekend in domestic theatres, the United States and Canada. Rival studios and independent tracking services think it can go higher, past $50 million and towards $60 million. That projection was reported by Variety on 16 September 2026.
The film has a clear run. It is the only major new release on its opening weekend. Sony spent $75 million to produce it, according to the same Variety report.
It is the eighth entry in the horror series and its second remake. It was directed by Zach Cregger. It stars Austin Abrams as a medical courier fighting through a viral outbreak in Raccoon City.
Cregger arrives with recent box office momentum. His film Weapons opened to $43 million domestically. It finished with $270 million globally from a $38 million production budget, with Amy Madigan winning an Oscar for her performance, Variety reported.
Resident Evil began as a 1996 video game. It first reached cinemas in 2002's Resident Evil, starring Milla Jovovich as Alice. She returned for five follow-up films through the 2000s and 2010s.
For comparison, 2010's Resident Evil: Afterlife opened to $26 million domestically and ended with $300 million globally. The six-film Jovovich run earned more than $1.2 billion worldwide, as reported by Deadline in April 2026. The later restart had a smaller footprint. 2021's Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City opened to $5.3 million domestically and took $42 million worldwide from a $25 million budget.
Early tracking for the new film had been cooler. Deadline reported on 3 September 2026 that it was heading for about $35 million domestically. The latest Sony estimate and rival expectations have moved well beyond that figure.
What makes this stand out is the size of the step up from those earlier franchise openings. Even the older $35 million estimate would have set a domestic opening record for the series. The wider market is also running hot. Domestic box office in the United States and Canada had passed $7 billion in August 2026, about 20% ahead of 2025, Deadline reported.
