Original Coverage & Source Attribution: movieweb.com
There is a case to be made for sequel fatigue, especially for intellectual properties seeing diminishing returns at the box office — the Pirates of the Caribbean and the Fast & Furious film series are prime examples. Of course, that has never prevented Hollywood from reviving dormant franchises, and a handful of studios recently scored a win with their risky gambit.
Video game adaptations are no longer box-office poison, thanks to Sonic the Hedgehog and The Super Mario Bros. franchise breaking the curse and setting a new trend. While the sub-genre remains hit-and-miss, the sheer volume of upcoming projects proves that studios are betting big on gaming IPs. Confidence is at an all-time high, so much so that many are still taking chances on properties with histories of definitive flops. Even with such high stakes, some have greenlit a high-profile reboot despite multiple failed attempts, but they made the right call by bringing in a breakout horror icon to handle the reset.
Zach Cregger Cures Franchise Fatigue With ‘Resident Evil’ Reboot
Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil has made box office history as the first installment in the franchise to cross the $100 million milestone at the US box office. It’s also one of the shortest live-action entries in the series, clocking in at an intense 95 minutes. It comfortably surpassed the domestic gross of 2010’s Resident Evil: Afterlife, which previously held the record at $60.1 million. After just three weeks in theaters, Cregger’s action thriller survival horror reboot has amassed $125 million domestically, grossing over seven times more than the previous reboot attempt, 2021’s Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, which finished its US run with $17 million.
A multi-studio collaboration brought Cregger’s vision to the big screen, spearheaded by Constantin Film, which holds the film rights to the Resident Evil franchise, alongside long-time production partner Davis Films — which itself has produced the Silent Hill movies. PlayStation Productions, Subconscious, and Vertigo Entertainment influenced the film’s creative development, and Columbia Pictures oversaw the overall production. The studios also split financing the film’s $75 million spend, excluding distribution and marketing.
‘Resident Evil’ Breaks Franchise’s Dismal Domestic Track Record
The live-action Resident Evil films have historically relied heavily on international audiences to drive their financial success. This lopsided split is best illustrated by the franchise’s highest-grossing installment, 2016’s Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, which earned $285 million internationally but managed only $27 million at the domestic box office. Cregger’s reboot breaks this streak as the first entry to gross higher in the US — raking in $125 million domestically against $121 million internationally. Its $246 million global haul ranks third in the series after The Final Chapter ($312 million) and Afterlife ($300 million), so it still has some ground to cover to claim the top spot before its theatrical run ends.
Resident Evil has finally regained its mojo thanks to Cregger’s reboot, which has captured the domestic and international markets in a near-perfect 50/50 box office split. While this commercial success secures the franchise’s future, Cregger’s refusal to direct a sequel leaves the property at yet another crossroads.
The Resident Evil screen adaptations have long struggled to balance authenticity with profitability; 2021’s Welcome to Raccoon City stands as the most faithful live-action installment to date, yet it flopped financially despite leaning heavily on game lore and operating on a modest $25 million budget. Similarly, the 2022 Netflix live-action series drastically deviated from the source material and suffered an even worse fate — it was canceled after just one season due to a steep decline in viewership. Cregger’s reboot has successfully revived Resident Evil‘s cinematic prospects, but that’s now all up in the air without his creative leadership.
- Release Date
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September 18, 2026
- Runtime
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90 Minutes
