‘Resident Evil’ Just Reminded Hollywood Who Goes to the Movies

Put another hit in Sony’s win column. After setting records with Spider-Man: Brand New Day, the studio scored another smash with Resident Evil. Zach Cregger’s take on the PlayStation game overperformed even the highest expectations, opening with $60 million in North America and $108 million globally. Adjusted for inflation, that’s about three times what the last Resident Evil movie with Milla Jovovich earned back in 2016 — and it already blew past the entire run of 2021’s failed Resident Evil adaptation, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City.

For Cregger, it’s a win, too — running almost $30 million ahead of the global debut for his breakout feature Weapons last summer.

“It just felt like a fresh take on an IP that people are familiar with, plus excitement for Cregger,” says Christopher Rosen. Among the film’s wins was that it struck gold with men — 66 percent of the audience. “I do think it helps that there’s really been nothing in theaters for the last few weeks that appealed to this audience specifically too,” adds Chris.

Led by Austin Abrams, the 30-year-old star of Weapons and Euphoria, Resident Evil again proved that young audiences drive theatrical success. According to new data from Rentrak, almost 50 percent of opening weekend audiences are under 34.

“It’s just this lesson we keep getting from audiences,” says Sean McNulty, who notes that Resident Evil more than doubled the worldwide opening of Practical Magic 2 with Gen X stars Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman. “This is not new; when you and I were 18-to-34-year-olds, it was the same thing. We just had a lot more films made for us than the younger generation does now. So does Hollywood take this feedback, and what do they do with it?”

And the star of the show is Cregger, who is now part of a growing list of auteurs — including Christopher Nolan, Ryan Coogler and Denis Villeneuve — who can push audiences to the theater on their name alone.

“Younger audiences want to know that there’s some kind of authorship behind these movies,” says Chris. “There’s an authenticity — it’s not a Resident Evil movie, it’s Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil movie. I do think that makes a difference, and I think people know that. If this was from an anonymous filmmaker, I don’t think it would have done as well.”