Box Office Report for the Week of September 20

It’s another big weekend at the box office as Zach Cregger breathes new life into the Resident Evil franchise after over twenty years (!!!) of critical duds. The Paul W.S. Anderson-conceived/Milla Jovovich-starring franchise might have been a commercial success, but I’d be lying if I said it was well received by critics and audiences.

There was also an unsuccessful attempt at a reboot both in film (through Johannes Roberts‘ Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City) and television (the show got canceled after one season), so it does, in a way, feel like a miracle that Cregger not only has a critical hit on his hand, but a commercial one too.

As of this article, the movie sits at a 95% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and has opened with $60 million domestically and $108.3 million globally on a $75 million budget! It’s broken several records, including the biggest opening for the franchise, Cregger’s directorial career, and for an R-rated video game adaptation. To say video game movies are making a generational comeback feels like a massive understatement, as studios finally trust their creatives to deliver experiences that satisfy both fans and non-fans of the IP.

Competition was light this weekend, with smaller-scale films such as Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom and The Weight serving as counterpoints to Resident Evil. Shaun the Sheep didn’t even crack the top ten, while Padraic McKinley‘s directorial debut, starring Ethan Hawke and Russell Crowe, opened ninth at $2.3 million. It’s a shame the film is being ignored, as it is a genuine heater that any movie lover will probably enjoy if they give it the time, but Vertical Entertainment isn’t a studio known for massive box office hits.

Resident Evil will probably leg out over the next few weeks as we’ve now entered awards season. The Toronto International Film Festival wrapped up today, and the New York Film Festival is slated to begin very soon. There’s much chatter about a film like La bola negra, which just won the People’s Choice award at TIFF and is slated to be Netflix’s first major theatrical release after it affirmed its commitment to select 45-day windows for some of its bigger titles.

Box office numbers will also be reported, which will help us paint a picture of how strong the apetite is for the theatrical market as the streamer is finally dipping their toes almost ten years after they began developing feature films. Will it be a massive platform hit and lead to more theatrical exclusives? With the film having received non-stop standing ovations at TIFF ever since it premiered, Netflix might finally be waking up to the true communal power of the theatrical experience once and for all…

Here is the full list of the top ten films of the weekend:

1. Resident Evil (Sony): $60.0M – 3,684 theatres
2. Practical Magic 2 (Warner Bros): $12.1M (-60%) – 4,163 theatres
3. Spider-Man: Brand New Day (Sony): $6.5M (-23%) – 3,017 theatres
4. The Odyssey (Universal): $4.9M (-36%) – 1,546 theatres
5. Coyote vs. Acme (Ketchup Entertainment): $4.5M (-30%) – 3,035 theatres
6. Runner (Angel Studios): $3.1M (-51%) – 2,472 theatres
7. Daniel and the Fiery Furnace (Emick): $3.1M – 1,525 theatres
8. The Transformers: The Movie – 40^th Anniversary Re-Release (Fathom Entertainment): $3.1M – 1,454 theatres
9. The Weight (Vertical): $2.3M – 1,504 theatres
10. Buddy (Roadside Attractions): $1.9M (47%) – 1,532 theatres

Source: Box Office Mojo