Zach Cregger's Resident Evil Hits $320M Worldwide, Tops Its Own Franchise

Zach Cregger's Resident Evil crossed $320.2 million worldwide this weekend, becoming both the highest-grossing film in the eight-picture franchise and the biggest of Cregger's own career — all on the back of a $40.6 million debut in China that returned the film to the top of the global box office chart in its fourth weekend of release.

The China opening was the best for a horror film in that market in the past two years, according to Screen Daily, with IMAX alone accounting for $7.7 million of the total. Combined with receipts from other markets, the film earned an estimated $62.65 million globally over the weekend.

The $320.2 million cumulative total eclipses 2016's Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, which held the franchise record at $312.2 million — a figure that was itself built largely on a $159.5 million contribution from China. The new film's China haul stands at $40.7 million cumulative after rolling out during the tail end of the Golden Week holiday on October 5, according to Screen Daily.

The record also overtakes Cregger's previous career high: Weapons, released last year through Warner Bros., which grossed $270.1 million worldwide. Screen Daily notes that comparisons are not adjusted for inflation.

North America has contributed $138.5 million to the total. Among international markets, the UK and Ireland lead with $17.0 million, followed by Mexico ($11.8 million), Australia ($8.5 million), Germany ($7.3 million) and Spain ($7.1 million). The film also opened in Japan this weekend, adding an estimated $3.5 million.

The film is a TriStar Pictures, Constantin Film and Davis Films production distributed by Sony. Game designer Hideo Kojima, creator of Death Stranding, weighed in on social media, writing that the film captures what it feels like to play Resident Evil and brought him back to his first experience with the original PlayStation game, according to Ground News.

Second place in the global weekend chart went to Universal's Other Mommy, a horror film directed by Rob Savage and produced by James Wan, which opened to an estimated $45.2 million worldwide. North America delivered $27.5 million of that sum — more than double the domestic number of the film in second place there, Amazon MGM Studios' Verity — while international markets added $17.7 million across territories where it has so far released. The Blumhouse Atomic Monster title, an adaptation of Josh Malerman's novel Incidents Around The House, stars Jessica Chastain as a sinister entity indistinguishable from the real mother of an eight-year-old girl. With a reported production budget of $18 million to $19 million, Screen Daily describes it as set to be another profitable title for Universal and Blumhouse Atomic Monster. Key markets including France, Germany, South Korea and Japan have yet to open.

The weekend's most notable disappointment was Aaron Sorkin's The Social Reckoning, which opened to an estimated $5.5 million in North America and $3.5 million internationally for a $9 million worldwide debut — good enough only for seventh place in the global chart. The film, starring Mikey Madison, Jeremy Allen White and Jeremy Strong, is described by Screen Daily as a whistleblower tale exposing the preference of profit over corporate ethics. For context, David Fincher's The Social Network — a film it invites comparison with — reached $224.9 million in 2010. The Social Reckoning has so far released in only 29 international markets, with Brazil and Mexico set to follow on October 22.

Elsewhere in the chart, Amazon MGM Studios' Verity fell 64% in North America in its second weekend but dropped only 34% in international holdover markets, earning an estimated $30.1 million globally to bring its worldwide total to $114 million. Universal's DreamWorks animation Forgotten Island added $6.5 million to reach $50.2 million globally. The Odyssey continues its run at $1.78 billion worldwide.

The competitive landscape shifts sharply on Tuesday, October 16, when Capcom's live-action Street Fighter movie and Nathan Fielder's You Can See Everything both arrive in theaters, according to Ground News.

Why it matters — Resident Evil's $320 million global run proves that lean, director-driven video game adaptations can outperform franchise legacy entries — and sets the competitive bar just as Street Fighter prepares to open.

Reported by movieweb.com, screendaily.com, screenrant.com, gamespot.com, comingsoon.net, ground.news