Sony/Columbia’s “Resident Evil” is off to a strong start at the box office, earning $8.8 million from Thursday preview screenings alongside high marks from early audiences.
Earlier this week, Zach Cregger’s adaptation of the Capcom video game series was tracking for a $40 million-plus opening similar to the $43.5 million opening of his 2025 film “Weapons.” But after critics hailed the film as the best “Resident Evil” adaptation yet with a 96% Rotten Tomatoes score on Wednesday, advance sales quickly accelerated.
With this preview result, “Resident Evil” is now set for an opening weekend north of $60 million, which would clear the $26.6 million franchise record set by the Milla Jovovich film “Resident Evil: Afterlife” even after inflation adjustment. Audience reception from Thursday previews is also strong with a 90% audience Rotten Tomatoes score and 4.5/5 on PostTrak.
While such an opening weekend would not be quite as high as the $84 million opening of last year’s horror hit, Warner Bros./New Line’s “The Conjuring: Last Rites,” “Resident Evil” is looking like it will give the box office new momentum heading into next weekend when movies like Marvel Studios’ “Avengers: Endgame Encore,” Universal/DreamWorks’ “Forgotten Island” and A24’s “Primetime” are all set to hit theaters.
It also continues a strong quarter for Sony Pictures hot off the release of Marvel Studios’ “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” which became the highest grossing domestic release of all time before inflation adjustment this week as it has reached $2.45 billion worldwide. Thanks in good part to the $937 million-plus domestic run of “Brand New Day,” the domestic overall total for 2026 will cross $7.5 billion this weekend as it continues to steam towards a $10.5 billion-plus overall total by year’s end.
