‘Resident Evil’ Is Tracking for a Franchise-Best Opening as Fall’s Box Office Finally Heats Up

Fall box office seasons rarely arrive with much fanfare, especially coming off a record-breaking summer that left theaters riding an unusually high wave of momentum. Last weekend’s underwhelming performance from a much-hyped nostalgia sequel only made that transition feel rockier, leaving industry watchers wondering whether September could deliver a genuine hit.

That answer appears to be arriving this weekend, and it’s coming from a franchise many had all but written off. Zach Cregger, fresh off directing two of the biggest horror breakouts in recent memory, is stepping into a 24-year-old zombie franchise with a complete creative reset, and early indicators suggest the gamble is paying off in a major way.

‘Resident Evil‘ is projected to lead the September 18-20 domestic box office with an opening weekend in the $40 million to $50 million range, with some tracking services suggesting it could climb as high as $58.5 million. Sony is opening the film in roughly 3,500 theaters, and even the most conservative projections would mark the biggest domestic debut in the franchise’s history, unseating current record holder ‘Resident Evil: Afterlife,’ which topped out at $26.6 million back in 2010.

That kind of jump wouldn’t just be incremental. The film is currently certified fresh at 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, making it not just the best-reviewed entry in the franchise’s history, but a stronger critical showing than Cregger’s own ‘Weapons,’ which opened to $43.5 million last summer on its way to earning Amy Madigan an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. If ‘Resident Evil’ clears that number, it would represent the biggest opening weekend of Cregger’s career to date.

Weekend Box Office Predictions for Sep. 18 – Sep. 20, 2026 1. Resident Evil – $58.5M 2. Practical Magic 2 – $11.8M 3. Spider-Man: Brand New Day – $5.3M Full weekend predictions can be found on the BoxOfficeReport website. #ResidentEvil #BoxOffice https://t.co/8AavHQrp6V

— BoxOfficeReport.com (@BORReport) September 18, 2026

Landing in second place is ‘Practical Magic 2,’ which is expected to pull in somewhere between $11.8 million and $15 million in its sophomore weekend, a steep drop from its already underwhelming $30 million debut. That opening fell well below the roughly $40 million many analysts had hoped for, especially given the film’s Oscar-caliber pairing of Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman and its reported $75 million budget.

With reviews sitting at just 38% and word-of-mouth failing to expand the film’s reach beyond its core older female audience, ‘Practical Magic 2’ now looks headed for a decline of 50% or more in its second frame. For a legacy sequel built around one of the more beloved cult classics of the late 1990s, that trajectory represents a significant missed opportunity for Warner Bros.

The first trailer for Zach Cregger's ‘RESIDENT EVIL’ has been released.

In theaters on September 18. pic.twitter.com/eeVCAGzy6M

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) April 30, 2026

‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ is expected to land in third place with projections ranging from roughly $4.9 million to $5.3 million, continuing its impressively long theatrical run after already becoming the highest-grossing domestic film ever, surpassing ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ with $936.7 million and counting. Rounding out the weekend’s wider box office picture are holdovers like ‘The Odyssey,’ along with newer entries such as ‘The Transformers: The Movie’ and ‘Coyote vs. Acme.’

Sony’s international rollout adds even more weight to ‘Resident Evil’s’ potential, with the studio targeting a global opening near $80 million once its 62 offshore markets are factored in, including territories like Germany and France opening alongside the domestic release. With critics and early audiences aligned and a franchise record all but guaranteed, this weekend looks set to give the fall movie season the jolt it desperately needed after a shaky start.

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