We’ve talked ad nauseum about how hot horror has been this summer, and I don’t think we should expect that to change as the spooky season creeps in. Resident Evil made sure to emphasize that point, dominating this weekend’s Box Office with a $60 million premiere. That’s officially the best start of any film in the Resident Evil franchise’s history, and it even crossed $100 million when international ticket sales were added in.
Meanwhile, Spider-Man: Brand New Day continued its slow descent ahead of Avengers: Doomsday’s release on the 2026 movie calendar — despite officially surpassing Star Wars: The Force Awakens as the highest grossing domestic release ever this week.
Practical Magic 2 held on to silver after its second weekend, and a couple of other new releases landed in the Top 10 — though Buddy was able to hold one new movie off the list … Oh, Buddy. Take a look at the Weekend Box Office chart, then we’ll break down the highlights below. (NOTE: * next to a title indicates a new release.)
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Weekend Box Office: September 18-20, 2026
|
TITLE |
WEEKEND GROSS |
DOMESTIC GROSS |
LAST WEEK |
THEATERS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1. Resident Evil* |
$60,000,000 |
$60,000,000 |
N/A |
3,684 |
|
2. Practical Magic 2 |
$12,155,000 |
$50,032,000 |
1 |
4,163 |
|
3. Spider-Man: Brand New Day |
$6,500,000 |
$944,502,000 |
2 |
3,017 |
|
4. The Odyssey |
$4,900,000 |
$609,758,000 |
3 |
1,546 |
|
5. Coyote vs. Acme |
$4,512,135 |
$54,816,201 |
5 |
3,035 |
|
6. Runner |
$3,180,074 |
$11,986,902 |
4 |
2,472 |
|
7. Daniel and the Fiery Furnace* |
$3,140,000 |
$3,140,000 |
N/A |
1,525 |
|
8. The Transformers: The Movie |
$3,103,922 |
$4,156,531 |
N/A |
1,454 |
|
9. The Weight* |
$2,315,162 |
$2,315,162 |
N/A |
1,504 |
|
10. Buddy |
$1,929,101 |
$24,833,065 |
6 |
1,532 |
Resident Evil Scores Biggest Premiere In The Franchise’s History
The horror genre saw another record-setting weekend at the Box Office, with Resident Evil earning more than double any other movie adaptation of the video game series. Zach Cregger’s follow-up to Weapons beat the franchise’s previous-best Resident Evil: Afterlife from 2010, which earned $26.6 million over its first three days in 2010. Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City debuted to a franchise-low $5.3 million in 2021.
Only time will tell if this iteration starring Austin Abrams as the hilariously high-pitched screamer Bryan will overtake 2016’s Resident Evil: The Final Chapter ($314.1 million worldwide) as the most successful of the eight movies, but with Resident Evil adding $48.3 million overseas for a worldwide total so far of $108.3 million, it’s a good start.
Audiences’ interest in seeing how Zach Creggor handled the gore and horror of Resident Evil after Weapons was definitely a factor in helping the movie surpass debut projections in the $40 million to $50 million range. At least that was the case for me, as this was where I spent my movie money this weekend. The critical praise certainly didn’t hurt either.
How Critics And Audiences Rated This Week’s New Releases
Resident Evil was the biggest release this weekend, but the biblical drama Daniel and the Fiery Furnace and Ethan Hawke and Russell Crowe’s The Weight also made the Top 10. Bad news for the family-friendly Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom, though, as it just barely fell short of the list. What did Rotten Tomatoes and CinemaScore audiences think?
|
RANK/TITLE |
RT CRITICS |
RT AUDIENCE |
CINEMASCORE |
|---|---|---|---|
|
1. Resident Evil |
95% |
91% |
B+ |
|
7. Daniel and the Fiery Furnace |
N/A |
94% |
N/A |
|
9. The Weight |
93% |
81% |
B+ |
|
11. Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom |
98% |
N/A |
N/A |
It’s a shame Shaun the Sheep didn’t get more attention, but maybe the good reviews can generate some interest to bump it into the Top 10 next week — especially since its $1.9 million premiere was so narrowly edged out by Casper Kelly’s Buddy ($1.93 million).
Daniel And The Fiery Furnace And The Weight Get Top 10 Premieres Amid The Transformers: The Movie’s 40th Anniversary
Daniel and The Fiery Furnace is a faith-based drama from Matthew and Daniel Kooman that tells the Old Testament story of Daniel and his exile in Babylon. Mena Massoud stars as the titular prophet, with Elijah Alexander playing King Nebuchadnezzar. Its $3.1 million debut weekend was good enough for seventh place.
Meanwhile, The Weight — a Depression-Era film starring Russell Crowe and Ethan Hawke — came in at No. 9 with $2.3 million against a reported budget of $2 million. Hawke plays widower Samuel Murphy who must fight to return to his daughter after being imprisoned at a work camp.
These premieres come alongside the return of The Transformers: The Movie, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary. The animated film based on the ‘80s TV series bombed when it hit theaters in 1986 but has since developed a cult following and was able to land at No. 8 this week with $3.1 million in ticket sales.
Practical Magic 2 Hangs On With Sub-Par Sophomore Weekend
Practical Magic 2 may have dethroned Spider-Man in its first weekend, but it did it with less-than-magical numbers. This week is more of the same, as it was able to hold onto the No. 2 spot, but it fell 59% in the process, earning just $12.1 million over the past three days. It’s only added $26.8 million outside of North America for a global total of $76.8 million, which isn’t likely to break even on its reported $75 million budget, after theaters take their half of the ticket sales.
As we predicted last week, Alan Ritchson’s Runner did fall out of the Top 5, but the Reacher star didn’t go far. The action-comedy co-starring Owen Wilson dropped just one spot to No. 6, with ticket sales falling 51% from opening weekend.
Next Week’s Releases Should Shake Up The Top 10
It will be interesting to see if Resident Evil’s multi-limbed monster can maintain its grasp on the top spot at the Box Office, with a few major releases coming September 25. Avengers: Endgame Encore hits theaters so Marvel fans can get a refresher course before Avengers: Doomsday in December. Rumors of bonus footage are likely to drum up even more interest and push that into the Top 10, with projections in the $20 millions, per Box Office Theory.
We’ve also got Forgotten Island from DreamWorks Animation, which is expected to bring in between $14 million and $19 million; Brad Pitt’s survival thriller Heart of the Beast projected to earn around $17 million; and A24’s Primetime starring Robert Pattinson estimated to premiere between $9 million and $15 million.
If those estimates come through, we’re going to have a whole new Top 10 next Sunday, so be sure to get out to the theater next weekend, then check back in to see where everything lands at the Box Office.
