Zach Cregger’s ‘Resident Evil’ Reboot Is Tracking to Shatter the Franchise’s Box Office Record Before It Even Opens

Horror reboots have a spotty track record when it comes to actually winning over general audiences, especially when the source material has already cycled through multiple failed attempts to crack the mainstream. For years, one particular video game franchise seemed permanently stuck in that cycle, never quite finding the right filmmaker to make it click.

That losing streak appears to be ending in dramatic fashion, thanks to a director who’s spent the past few years quietly building one of horror’s most trusted names.

Zach Cregger’s ‘Resident Evil‘ is tracking to open with $40 million to $50 million domestically, according to Box Office Pro, which would make it the biggest opening in the franchise’s history. That figure would comfortably surpass the previous record held by 2010’s ‘Resident Evil: Afterlife,’ which debuted to $26.7 million, and would also mark a step up from Cregger’s own ‘Weapons,’ which opened to $43.5 million last year on its way to a $270 million global haul.

According to Cosmic Book News, tracking data from Greenlight Analytics shows the film currently sitting at 52% interest among moviegoers, a figure the outlet notes is actually higher than where Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ was polling eleven days before its own release, a film that went on to open at $120.5 million domestically. That kind of interest a full month and a half before release has led some trackers to call ‘Resident Evil’ the hottest title currently on the board.

The ‘Resident Evil’ series has had a rocky commercial history despite its status as one of gaming’s most recognizable properties, with previous domestic openings ranging from just $5.3 million for 2021’s ‘Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City’ up to that $26.7 million high point set by ‘Afterlife’ back in 2010. Cregger, who first broke through with 2022’s ‘Barbarian’ before delivering last year’s Oscar-nominated ‘Weapons,’ represents a notably different creative direction for a franchise that spent much of its earlier run built around Milla Jovovich’s action-heavy sequels.

Speaking to Empire about his approach to the reboot, Cregger described the film as a “relentless” horror gauntlet, emphasizing that the project was his idea from the very start rather than something he was brought on to simply execute. That pitch appears to be resonating, with Sony’s marketing campaign leaning heavily into dread-driven horror rather than the large-scale action that defined earlier entries in the series.

The film follows Bryan, a medical courier played by ‘Weapons’ alumnus Austin Abrams, who becomes trapped in a nightmare scenario in Raccoon City after a delivery goes catastrophically wrong. Notably, tracking data shows ‘Resident Evil’ currently outperforming other high-profile releases on the calendar, including Sony’s own ‘Insidious: Out of the Further,’ which is polling at 47% awareness and 48% interest for its own late-August release.

With Sony holding what analysts are calling two of the hottest titles currently in tracking, and Cregger’s directorial brand clearly translating into genuine audience anticipation rather than just franchise recognition, ‘Resident Evil’ looks positioned to finally deliver the mainstream breakthrough this property has chased for over two decades. Given how consistently tracking numbers have climbed in the weeks leading up to its September 18 release, this reboot may end up representing one of horror’s biggest success stories of the year.

Have something to add? Let us know in the comments!