A 'Resident Evil' Reboot Opens to $60 Million, the Franchise's Biggest Debut
Zach Cregger, who directed last year's hit 'Weapons,' has done it again with his take on 'Resident Evil.' Variety reports his reboot of the '90s zombie video game collected $60 million in its opening weekend — well above expectations and the largest debut in the 24-year-old horror franchise's history. Franchise reboots usually arrive as damage control. This one arrives as a director's victory lap.
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The interesting part isn't the number, it's the sequencing: Cregger came off 'Weapons' and got handed a dormant horror franchise, then delivered above expectations. That reads as an argument for giving a franchise to a director with momentum rather than to a hired hand.
An opening weekend measures curiosity and marketing at least as much as the film. Setting a franchise record this early mostly tells us how low the bar was set by 24 years of previous entries.