Photo: Pop Culture Geek, licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Sony’s new Resident Evil is the big opener at the North American box office this weekend, and analysts expect it to set a franchise record. Boxoffice Pro’s weekend preview forecast a $40 million to $50 million debut. Final weekend figures were not yet available at the time of writing, so this story will be updated when they arrive.
A fresh start for the horror franchise
The film is a reboot from director Zach Cregger, the filmmaker behind Barbarian and Weapons, and it is not connected to the earlier series starring Milla Jovovich, which earned about $1.27 billion worldwide. Austin Abrams, who appeared in Weapons, headlines the cast. Early reactions from the premiere were strongly positive, according to Boxoffice Pro.
Earlier films in the series opened between $13 million and $26 million, so even the low end of the forecast would be a record. Boxoffice Pro noted that the current best is Resident Evil: Afterlife from 2010, which opened to $26.6 million and finished with $60.1 million domestically. The outlet expects the reboot to pass that total by its second weekend, and points to international markets as a source of further upside.
Practical Magic 2 slips to second place
Warner Bros.’ Practical Magic 2, with Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman, topped the chart last weekend with $30 million, ending Spider-Man’s six-week run at No. 1. That was below the $40 million-plus that had been hoped for on a reported $75 million budget. Boxoffice Pro forecast about $15 million to $20 million for its second weekend and a domestic finish near $100 million.
Spider-Man makes box office history
In its eighth week, Spider-Man: Brand New Day reached $936.77 million domestically on Tuesday, September 15, according to Boxoffice Pro. That put it ahead of Star Wars: The Force Awakens at $936.66 million as the highest-grossing film ever at the domestic box office. The outlet projects a finish around $960 million, and notes that Avengers: Doomsday has already banked more than $50 million in advance ticket sales.
Box office figures are studio estimates or analyst forecasts until actuals are reported.