Sony Pictures is releasing writer-director Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil adaptation in roughly 3,500 North American theaters. The studio projects an opening weekend of $40 million for the three-day frame, with third-party tracking services suggesting the possibility of the debut reaching close to $50 million or higher. The film carries a $75 million production budget.
A $40 million opening would mark the highest-grossing debut in the history of the Resident Evil film franchise. The series’ previous installments have collectively earned more than $1.2 billion worldwide. The film is produced by TriStar Pictures, Constantin Film, and Davis Film, and stars Austin Abrams, Zach Cherry, Kali Reis, and Paul Walter Hauser. The story follows a medical courier attempting to deliver a critical item during a deadly viral outbreak in Raccoon City.
Cregger’s latest project continues what has been a successful period for the director. His previous film, Weapons, was an Oscar-winning horror release from Warner Bros. that arrived last summer, and before that was his well-received horror film Barbarian. The Resident Evil reboot reimagines Capcom’s video game series, which debuted in 1996. The original live-action adaptation, directed by Paul W.S. Anderson in 2002, opened to $17.7 million domestically and went on to earn over $100 million globally.
Unlike previous Resident Evil films, the new adaptation has received strong critical reception, holding a 96 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The film faces competition from animated sequel Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom, also opening in wide release this weekend.
Article Attribution | Read More at Article Source
Article summary produced by Claude AI