Resident Evil: Afterlife Crushes Box Office

The only wide opener in theaters this weekend was the fourth entry in the Resident Evil series and it turned in the best opening for the franchise yet. Resident Evil: Afterlife pulled in $27.7 million and was buoyed by higher priced 3D showings and IMAX screens. The previous high mark was from the last one, Extinction, which made $23.7 million its opening weekend. Talk has already begun on a fifth RE film given the continued success of the series.

Resident Evil seems to have a built in base that can’t be shaken, and even though reviews were bad the audience turned out. The growth seems likely just to be based on the 3D which was heavily advertised as using the same system that was used by James Cameron on Avatar. Moviegoers have grown tired of the 3D conversions and this was the first true 3D film delivered in quite a while. With a budget of just $60 million it is well on its way to profitability. The RE series has always kept its costs down and in turn each movie has been profitable.

The number two movie, Takers, took in $6.1 million so it shows how dominant RE was for the weekend. Last weekend’s number one, The American, slid to third with $5.9 million.