Zach Cregger's Resident Evil opened to $60 million domestically this weekend, the largest debut in franchise history. The previous record belonged to Resident Evil: Afterlife from 2010, which opened to $26 million. With $48.3 million more internationally, Sony's $75 million production landed $108.3 million in its first weekend globally.
The film stars Austin Abrams as Bryan, an original character not drawn from the game series. Cregger, who has not seen any of the seven previous film adaptations, told The Wrap he approached the project as a sandbox exercise. "I wanted to make a survival horror movie that was true to the experience of playing Resident Evil," he said. The film holds a 96% score on Rotten Tomatoes and a 91% audience score, both personal bests for the director. Cregger first cast Abrams in Weapons and described him to The Wrap as "a total dream to work with."
The result places Cregger in a short list of directors who have built a consistent streak inside the genre. Barbarian (2022) made him a name. Weapons (2025), which grossed $270 million against a $38 million budget and earned Amy Madigan an Oscar, made him a fixture. Resident Evil is the third chapter in what he described to Dread Central as a single creative period: "After Barbarian I wrote Weapons and Resident Evil and Flood in kind of a burst of activity."
The Flood, produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment and set at Warner Bros./New Line, is dated August 11, 2028. Cregger has called it his most disturbing film. It is also, by his own account, his last. "I will never do this again," he told The Wrap. "I can't. It's not sustainable and I'll burn out." On franchises specifically: "Why would I do this again? I can write my own original stuff." After completing The Flood, he plans to step back from directing and pursue painting. "I've got to be an artist in another way besides being a filmmaker for my personal sanity." The record opening suggests the franchise will continue. Whether it needs him is a different question.
