Resident Evil beat Weapons to become director Zach Cregger’s highest-grossing film while The Social Reckoning bombed at the box office.
The live-action adaptation of Capcom’s classic survival horror series turned heads as it reached an estimated worldwide total of $320.2 million over the weekend. With $138.5 million domestically and $181.7 million internationally, Resident Evil has officially cleared Weapons’ $270 million with a few weeks and change to spare.
Cregger brought his re-imagined Raccoon City to the big screen on September 18, 2026, making this weekend its fourth in theaters. The massive jump – which saw it return to the number one spot, globally – was largely propelled by its premiere in China. Of the whopping $62.65 million it accumulated through weekend four, $40.6 million was earned in China alone. Its victory over Weapons already seemed secure, but as it stands atop Cregger’s catalog, it’s also continuing to leave its reported $75 million budget in the dust.
Resident Evil’s ongoing success in theaters kicked off when it brought in $108.3 million in its opening weekend. It was a strong start that even managed to bleed over into the gaming world with increased sales for some of the games, too, with Cregger’s latest also landing as the highest-rated video game adaptation of all time.
It’s hard to imagine the film’s release going any better than it did, especially considering the months leading up to its premiere were plagued by negativity online. Gaming fans spent much of their time talking about the movie’s lack of recognizable characters and its tweaks to the lore, with Cregger arguing that he made the changes in order to make a better movie. By just about every measure, it seems the bet paid off.
These mid-October box office results show signs of an audience ready for Halloween, with Other Mommy also performing well despite poor reviews from both critics and audiences alike (via Rotten Tomatoes). Sitting with an abysmal 18% critic score and 47% audience score, Jessica Chastain’s new horror movie landed in second place globally with 45.19 million (27.5 million domestically, $17.69 million internationally).
As bone-chilling trailers convinced scary movie fans to show up for an unnerving performance, there were also some notable losers in theaters, too. Tom Cruise’s Digger continued its unfortunate run with $9.6 million in weekend two, marking a 48% drop for a total of $35.3 million. The true disappointment, though, was Aaron Sorkin’s The Social Network sequel, The Social Reckoning.
Starring Jeremy Allen White and Mikey Madison, and including Jeremy Strong’s performance as Mark Zuckerberg, the film’s opening weekend saw it open in seventh place with just $9 million. At $5.5 million domestically and $17.69 million internationally on a reported budget of $30 million (via Variety), The Social Reckoning is a certified bomb.
It’s a painful reality for the Facebook movie follow-up, especially after Jesse Eisenberg’s original picture ended its run with $224.9 million (via Box Office Mojo) and plenty of praise. The Social Reckoning could always stand the test of time, but with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 55% from critics and 74% from audiences, it’s not looking good.
October still has plenty to give, though. Capcom’s live-action Street Fighter movie and Nathan Fielder’s You Can See Everything will both release next weekend, October 16. DC body horror movie Clayface then follows October 23.
For the movies you can see in theaters now, be sure to check out IGN’s reviews. We called Resident Evil “Great” with an 8/10 and Other Mommy “Bad” with a 4/10. We talked about the highs and lows of Digger in our 6/10 review for the Cruise film, while The Social Reckoning returned a 7/10.
Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).
