Resident Evil holds No. 1 in China with $9.3m second weekend

Resident Evil kept No. 1 at the mainland China box office for the Oct. 16-18 frame with RMB62.5 million ($9.3 million) in its second full weekend, according to data from Artisan Gateway reported by Variety.

The horror reboot from Constantin Film and Sony Pictures opened in China on Oct. 5. It reached a cumulative gross, the running total to date, of $55.8 million in the market after that weekend.

Traces of Justice placed second in mainland China for the Oct. 16-18 weekend with $6.8 million in its third weekend on release. It has earned $84.6 million in China since opening on Oct. 1, Variety reported, citing Artisan Gateway.

Mr. & Mrs. Pardon took third with $4.1 million for the frame. That lifted its China total to $50.9 million since its Oct. 1 premiere. Once Upon a Time in the Middle East added $900,000 in its tenth weekend for fourth place, pushing its China haul to $354.3 million since Aug. 11.

Three Kingdoms: The Beginning rounded out the top five with $800,000 for the Oct. 16-18 frame, for a China total of $14.7 million. The overall weekend total in mainland China was $26.7 million, in a quiet stretch after the National Day holiday corridor (the weeks around a public holiday when cinemas expect heavy traffic).

Takings for mainland China in 2026 stand at $4.67 billion to date. That is 29.2% behind the same point in 2025.

Earlier in its run, Resident Evil led the Oct. 9-11 weekend in China with $12.1 million, as reported by Variety. Its China opening was estimated at $40.6 million by Screen Daily. That start was described at the time by Deadline as the best for a horror film in two years. The same outlet reported the film topped the worldwide weekend with more than $62 million and became director Zach Cregger's highest-grossing release. Its worldwide total has since passed $280 million, according to Deadline.

What makes this stand out for regular cinema-goers is the shape of the chart. Two local holiday favourites from Oct. 1 still sit just behind a Hollywood horror title. A tenth-weekend entry still makes the top four. The market was quiet, but the holds were firm.