Box Office: ‘Resident Evil’ tops box office with franchise best debut of $60 million

Zach Cregger's "Resident Evil" led the North American box office with a record-breaking opening weekend, grossing $60 million from 3,684 theaters across the U.S. and Canada. This surpasses all prior films in the franchise and most of the previous standalone films in terms of domestic run. The only exception is "Resident Evil: Afterlife," which earned $60.1 million in its 2010 release, not adjusting for inflation.

Starring Austin Abrams, the movie follows a medical courier battling infected creatures in Raccoon City. Critics were highly positive, giving it a 95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a B+ CinemaScore. The audience was predominantly male (66%) and under 35 (75%). Cregger's previous films, "Weapons" and "Barbarian," also outperformed box office expectations for horror movies, which typically see a rapid decline after their opening weekend.

With a reported $75 million production budget, "Resident Evil" was still able to bring in over $108.3 million worldwide, including $48.3 million internationally. Horror movies this year have generated over $1.1 billion at the domestic box office, with "Practical Magic 2" taking second place with $76.8 million globally. Other top performers include "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" in third with $6.5 million, "The Odyssey" in fourth with $4.9 million, and "Coyote vs. Acme" rounding out the top five with $4.5 million.