The reboot is edging past Weapons as Cregger's biggest hit after a $26 million China opening, though it still trails the Resident Evil franchise record.
Zach Cregger's Resident Evil reboot is about to cross $250 million worldwide, and it still hasn't quite caught up to his last film.
Nineteen days into its run, the horror title stood at $249.2 million worldwide as of Tuesday, Koimoi reported, with a fresh China debut pushing the total higher through the week. The film pulled in $26 million from its first three days in Chinese theatres alone. Domestically, its third Tuesday brought in $1.6 million, a franchise record for that day of release.
Resident Evil has slipped to #2 in North America, losing the top spot to Verity. But neither Verity nor Tom Cruise's Digger has managed to push it out of the top two. Three weeks in, that's a solid hold for any horror release.
Here's the catch. Despite some reports claiming otherwise, Resident Evil has not yet overtaken Weapons as Cregger's highest-grossing film. Weapons wrapped its 2025 theatrical run at $270.07 million worldwide, with $151.5 million of that coming from North America. Resident Evil needs roughly $21 million more to pass that number, something trade trackers expect could happen within days given the China bump and steady holds elsewhere.
Projections floating around in trade circles put the film's eventual worldwide total somewhere between $320 million and $350 million. If that plays out, it won't just beat Weapons. It'll also overtake The Final Chapter's $312.2 million to become the highest-grossing film in the entire Resident Evil franchise.
That's a big ask for a reboot that leans more on dread than fan service. Cregger's version follows a courier sent to deliver a package to a remote hospital who ends up trapped in an outbreak, fighting off mutated creatures to survive. The cast is led by Austin Abrams, alongside Zach Cherry, Kali Reis and Paul Walter Hauser.
The film opened September 18 and has shown unusual staying power for a horror title this far into its run, helped along by the international rollout. Domestic opening numbers get all the attention, but foreign markets, China especially, often decide whether a film actually turns a real profit. A $26 million three-day start suggests the audience there is just getting going.
Whether Cregger ends up with a narrow win or a comfortable one, the number to watch now is $270.07 million. Cross it, and Resident Evil becomes something rarer than a hit reboot. It becomes a director's new career best.
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