This weekend is a significant one for Zach Cregger. The director appears to be three-for-three with his directorial projects, as Resident Evil has emerged as a massive success — surpassing last year’s Weapons with an impressive $60 million opening. This figure is approximately $20 million higher than our predictions, attributed to a substantial increase in business on Friday and Saturday night, driven by positive word of mouth following the Thursday night previews.
Resident Evil more than doubles the franchise record
The film more than doubled the previous highest-grossing opening in the series, Resident Evil: Afterlife, which earned $26.6 million in 2010. Notably, it generated over 10 times the opening revenue of Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City. This suggests that instead of opting for inexpensive reboots, studios should aim for ambitious projects led by proven directors with innovative visions. The financial outlook is promising, with the film produced on a modest budget of $80 million. With a B+ CinemaScore (excellent for a horror film), this title is expected to perform well long-term. Internationally, it garnered $48.3 million, bringing its global total to $108.3 million.
Practical Magic 2 craters in its second weekend
The previous week’s release, Practical Magic 2, saw a significant decline in its second weekend, earning just over $12 million — a drop of more than 59% from its lackluster opening. With a total gross of $48 million, it’s evident that this franchise lacks the appeal to contemporary audiences that Warner Bros. anticipated. However, it is likely to still turn a profit, which is an improvement compared to some of their flops this year, such as The Bride, Evil Dead Wrath, and Supergirl. To date, its worldwide total stands at $76.8 million.
Spider-Man closes in on $1 billion domestically
Spider-Man: Brand New Day achieved $6.5 million this weekend, reflecting only a 23% decrease from last weekend’s earnings. With a domestic gross of $944 million — the highest ever — many are speculating whether this film will be the first to surpass $1 billion domestically. Its global total currently stands at $2.47 billion.
The Odyssey secured third place with $4.9 million and boasts a domestic total of $609 million. It continues to benefit from its IMAX 70mm screenings, as theaters are opting to keep it available in that format due to high demand. The film has surpassed $1.7 billion worldwide. Domestically, it narrowly outperformed Ketchup Entertainment’s Coyote vs. Acme, which earned $4.5 million for a total of $54 million domestically — a commendable performance for the distributor.
Runner and Transformers battle for the top 10
Angel Studios’ Runner brought in $3.18 million, marking about a 54% decline from last week and totaling $11.99 million thus far. This figure may be disappointing for an action film as Angel transitions into more mainstream projects. The faith-based film Daniel and the Fiery Furnace, ironically, trailed closely behind with earnings of $3.14 million from just over 1,500 locations.
A notable surprise this weekend was the strong performance of the 40th-anniversary re-release of The Transformers: The Movie, which earned an impressive $3.10 million.
The Weight struggles despite strong reviews
Unfortunately, Vertical Entertainment’s The Weight struggled despite receiving excellent reviews (including from us) and featuring stars like Ethan Hawke and Russell Crowe. It grossed $2.3 million from over 1,500 screens.
Buddy completed the top 10 with earnings of $1.94 million, bringing its domestic total to an impressive $24.85 million. It has become distributor Roadside Attractions’ third-highest-grossing film ever, following I Can Only Imagine and Manchester by the Sea.
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