Zach Cregger's Resident Evil collected at least $9 million from Thursday preview screenings in the United States, setting a franchise high ahead of its September 18 release, Deadline reported. The director, whose credits include Weapons and Barbarian, enters the opening weekend with preview receipts far above those of earlier Resident Evil films.
Forecasts had put the film's domestic opening weekend at $40 million to $50 million. Deadline said the strong preview performance could push the total beyond that range. The series' previous Thursday preview benchmark belonged to 2016's Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, which brought in $1 million. None of the franchise's other installments had exceeded that amount in Thursday screenings.
The new film also outperformed Cregger's previous release, Weapons, in preview revenue. That movie took in $5.75 million before finishing its first domestic weekend with $43.5 million. Resident Evil's weekend total will show whether its larger preview audience translates into an opening above current projections.
