Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil gave the North American box office a shot in the arm in its first weekend in theatres. The Sony Pictures release earned US$60 million (S$76 million) in ticket sales from 3,684 locations in the US and Canada, according to studio estimates Sunday.
That’s a best for the video game inspired franchise, of which there have been seven prior movies dating back to 2002, and for the filmmaker behind Weapons and Barbarian.
It’s also more than most of the previous films made in their entire domestic runs. The only exception is Resident Evil: Afterlife, which was released in 2010 and netted out with US$60.1 million, not accounting for inflation.
Cregger’s Resident Evil stars Austin Abrams (who also played a pivotal role in Weapons) as a medical courier whose last job of the night finds him battling infected creatures in Raccoon City. Reviews were overwhelmingly positive; it currently boasts a 95 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes.
The audience was primarily male (66 per cent) and under 35 (75 per cent), according to PostTrak exit polls, and gave it a B+ CinemaScore. Cregger’s previous films have defied a lot of box office logic when it comes to horror movies, whose earnings tend to be front-loaded and drop sharply after the first weekend. Barbarian grossed over US$46 million on a budget under US$5 million. Weapons made $270 million on a $38 million budget.
“Zach Cregger is a household name in the world of horror,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the head of marketplace trends for Rentrak. “There are certain directors who become the star of the movie.”
Resident Evil cost a reported US$75 million to produce, which does not include marketing and promotion expenses. Internationally, it earned US$48.3 million, bringing its global launch to US$108.3 million.
“Zach Cregger plus big franchise equals big bucks,” Dergarabedian said. “And he made it feel fresh and new.”
According to Rentrak, horror movies this year, including hits like Obsession and Backrooms, have generated over US$1.1 billion at the domestic box office.
Second place went to Practical Magic 2, which fell about 59 per cent from its lackluster opening weekend with US$12.2 million from 4,163 theatres in North America. An additional US$7 million from international showings brings its running global total to US$76.8 million.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day landed in third place with US$6.5 million in its eighth weekend, pushing its domestic total to US$944.5 million. The Odyssey, in its 10th weekend in theatres, added another US$4.9 million to take fourth place. Coyote vs. Acme rounded out the top five with US$4.5 million.
One notable limited release was The History of Concrete, a documentary from comedian John Wilson, which earned US$90,000 from one screen (the IFC Centre in New York). The only film to make more in a single weekend at that venue was Parasite, which made US$119,407.
Top 10 movies by domestic box office
With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at US and Canadian theatres, according to Rentrak:
1. Resident Evil, US$60 million.
2. Practical Magic 2, US$12.2 million.
3. Spider-Man: Brand New Day, US6.5 million.
4. The Odyssey, US$4.9 million.
5. Coyote vs. Acme, US$4.5 million.
6. Runner, US$3.2 million.
7. Daniel and the Fiery Furnace, US$3.1 million.
8. Transformers: The Movie (40th anniversary re-release), US$3.1 million.
9. The Weight, US$2.3 million.
10. Buddy, US$1.9 million.
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