Zach Cregger's Resident Evil Reboot Just Shattered Franchise Records — And Critics Are Actually Loving It

The Resident Evil Franchise Finally Got the Reboot It Deserved

After years of increasingly forgettable sequels that strayed further and further from what made the games iconic, Zach Cregger — the director behind horror hits Barbarian and Weapons — has delivered the Resident Evil movie fans have been begging for. And the box office agrees: the reboot just pulled in a staggering $108.3 million globally in its opening weekend, smashing every previous franchise record.

The film, which hit theaters on September 18, stars Austin Abrams as Bryan, a new protagonist navigating the horrors of Raccoon City. Joining him are Zach Cherry, Kali Reis, Johnno Wilson, and Paul Walter Hauser in supporting roles — a cast that critics are calling one of the strongest ensembles the franchise has ever assembled.

A Horror Movie That Actually Feels Like the Games

What separates Cregger's take from previous adaptations is something deceptively simple: it's actually scary. Gone are the over-the-top action set pieces that defined the Milla Jovovich era. Instead, the film leans hard into survival-horror tension, channeling the claustrophobic dread of the original Capcom games.

Critics have described it as "pure adrenaline" and "a near-perfect horror movie." Cregger brings his signature blend of dark humor and genuine terror — a formula that worked brilliantly in Barbarian and translates even better here. Austin Abrams delivers a standout performance that anchors the chaos, playing a protagonist who feels refreshingly vulnerable compared to the superhuman leads of past entries.

The film also takes a uniquely meta approach to its source material, with reviewers noting it captures "the absolute torture of playing horror games" in ways no previous adaptation has even attempted. One particularly clever narrative choice follows characters who aren't the hero — essentially exploring what it's like to be an NPC in Raccoon City when everything goes sideways.

Box Office Domination and What Comes Next

The numbers speak for themselves. The $108.3 million global opening doesn't just beat projections — it obliterates them. Early tracking had the film eyeing around $50 million domestically, but word-of-mouth and overwhelmingly positive reviews pushed it well beyond expectations. The reboot has already outgrossed two previous franchise installments in its first weekend alone, and it even surpassed the original Mortal Kombat movie's domestic haul.

This weekend's box office has been historic overall, with four films each eyeing over $20 million — including Avengers: Endgame Encore's re-release and Primetime starring Robert Pattinson. But Resident Evil's record-breaking debut is the headline.

For Sony, this is validation. The studio took a massive gamble handing the franchise to a director known for mid-budget horror, and it paid off spectacularly. With these numbers, a sequel feels inevitable — and for the first time in years, that's actually exciting.

The Bottom Line

If you've written off Resident Evil movies after the increasingly absurd later sequels, Cregger's reboot is your reason to come back. It's scary, it's funny, it respects the games, and Austin Abrams might just be the franchise lead this series always needed. The survival-horror genre is eating well in 2026 — and Raccoon City has never looked this terrifyingly good.