Resident Evil Movie Angered Many Gamers, but It Just Reached an Impressive Box Office Milestone and Is Now One of the Most Successful Horror Films in History

Resident Evil is enjoying a golden age, as its latest installments have been successful and received very positive reviews. However, the franchise has a poor track record when it comes to movie adaptations, with most of its films earning terrible reviews despite making plenty of money. Fortunately, the latest movie has finally broken that streak.

Directed by Zach Cregger, the film arrived in theaters in Mexico and the rest of the world in September, becoming a massive hit and earning millions of dollars during its theatrical run. Although it is gradually leaving theaters to make room for new releases, it continues to perform well and has just reached a major milestone.

Resident Evil Surpasses $400 Million at the Box Office

The director behind this project has described himself as a fan of Capcom’s video games. However, long before the movie’s release, he confirmed that his adaptation would tell a completely original story set in the franchise’s universe. The absence of Leon S. Kennedy, Claire Redfield, Ada Wong, and other classic characters upset many fans.

Despite making its debut amid controversy and criticism, Resident Evil: Night Zero became an overwhelming success on every front. The horror film received widespread critical acclaim and currently holds a 97% approval rating on Tomatazos. That positive reception also translated into impressive box office earnings.

The film inspired by the survival horror franchise had the best opening weekend in the series and has shown remarkable staying power. During its seventh weekend, it earned another $2.5 million in the United States, bringing its domestic box office total to $157.4 million.

Resident Evil also continued to perform well internationally. This weekend, the movie earned another $7.5 million overseas, bringing its international total to $242.5 million. That means the film has now surpassed $400 million worldwide.

The movie’s popularity is undeniable. China has contributed the most to its international box office, with $71.4 million. The United Kingdom follows with $19.4 million, while Mexico ranks third with $12.7 million.

As a result, Resident Evil is now the 11th highest-grossing horror movie of all time, just behind the also-recent Backrooms, which earned $400.6 million. If it maintains this momentum, Capcom and Sony Pictures’ film could break into the top 10 in the coming weeks.

Experts predict that Zach Cregger’s movie will finish its theatrical run with a total box office gross of between $415 million and $425 million.

Zach Cregger Is Tired of the Resident Evil Controversy

All of this is an impressive achievement, especially considering that Resident Evil immediately became a target of criticism from fans of the franchise. Players were particularly upset that the movie did not adapt the stories from the original games.

Director Zach Cregger responded to the community’s comments, claiming that gamers would have complained anyway and would have hated his movie even if he had faithfully adapted the horror games. The film’s success shows that criticism on social media exists within a bubble that does not necessarily reflect reality.

Zach Cregger is very interested in working on more Resident Evil projects and has previously mentioned that he has some ideas for a potential sequel. While the movie’s box office success makes a follow-up seem likely, the filmmaker’s return is still uncertain.

During a recent podcast, the director expressed his frustration that much of the conversation surrounding the movie revolved around the video games.

“The [controversy] was about whether the movie lived up to the different standards that different fans of the games had. It was just a lot of ‘Why isn’t this like the source material?’ or ‘Why is it okay that it isn’t like the source material?’” the director commented.

Zach Cregger is currently working on The Flood, a completely original project. In another interview, he said that the expectations surrounding Resident Evil were “really unpleasant” and that he was “very grateful” his next movie would be free from that kind of discussion.

But tell us: did you enjoy the movie? Let us know in the comments.