Zach Cregger's Resident Evil posts the franchise's biggest opening

Resident Evil, director Zach Cregger's adaptation of the Capcom survival-horror series, took between $53 million and $60 million in its opening days, according to figures from Deadline reported by Destructoid. The film is the highest-grossing opening of any entry in the long-running Resident Evil film franchise.

Destructoid reported that the film grossed $26.3 million domestically on September 18 alone. That single day accounts for almost as much as Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, the previous film series entry, earned domestically across its entire theatrical run.

The opening is also the largest of Cregger's career to date. His previous film, Weapons, grossed $43.5 million in its first three days, a figure Resident Evil has already passed.

A franchise record set against a low bar

The Resident Evil name has carried a film series since the early 2000s, but Destructoid characterized the earlier run as loosely connected to the games, borrowing characters and story beats while telling largely separate stories. The outlet noted that the first of those films retains a cult following.

Destructoid scored Cregger's film 7 out of 10, crediting it with capturing the experience of playing a Resident Evil game rather than reproducing the plot of any single entry, while calling its story thin and its runtime short for what it attempts. The site praised the film's effects, pacing and atmosphere.

Neither Capcom nor the film's distributor has published final opening-weekend figures. The numbers reported so far are Deadline's estimates for the opening days.