Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil reboot runtime of 90 minutes makes it the shortest entry in the franchise’s film history, according to the British Board of Film Classification, but what the film lacks in length, it appears to be making up for in critical praise and box office muscle.
The film arrived in cinemas on 18 September, and the numbers have wasted little time rolling in. According to Deadline, the film holds a 96% Certified Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the best of Cregger’s career to date, ahead of his previous film Weapons.
Resident Evil reboot runtime is the franchise’s leanest yet
At 90 minutes, Cregger’s film edges past the previous shortest entry: 2004’s Resident Evil: Apocalypse, which ran to 93 minutes. The gap may seem slim, but it puts the new film firmly in a different bracket from 2021’s Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, which clocked in at 107 minutes. That film, also a reboot of the series, was directed by Johannes Roberts.
The new entry is the eighth overall film in the franchise. The first six were helmed by Paul WS Anderson before Roberts took over for Raccoon City, and now Cregger steps in for what is being positioned as a fresh start for the series under Sony Pictures.
The story follows Bryan (Austin Abrams), a medical courier caught up in a viral outbreak. The film runs parallel to the events of the video game Resident Evil 2, though Cregger has updated the setting to the present day and placed the action in winter. The cast also includes Zach Cherry, Kali Reis, Johnno Wilson and Paul Walter Hauser. Cregger co-wrote the screenplay with Shay Hatten and also serves as a producer.
Box office records and a franchise-best opening weekend
The decision to keep things tight appears to be working. The film earned $60 million domestically and a further $48.3 million internationally across 62 markets in its opening weekend, setting a new franchise record, according to figures shared by Pioneers of Cinema. Taken together, the global opening is the strongest the series has seen across its eight-film run.
The momentum has continued beyond that debut. The film has now earned $196.5 million worldwide against a reported production budget of $75 million, according to figures shared on Facebook.
Cregger has been open about the creative liberties he took with the source material. The original Resident Evil 2 game was released in 1998, but the director pushed the timeline forward deliberately. ‘It takes place in the snow in 2026. That’s why [Bryan] has an iPhone,’ he said. ‘Because I took liberties to tell a story I wanted to tell and make the movie look the way I wanted to make it look.’
He also addressed the differences between his film and the game directly. ‘I am not doing exactly a one for one Resident Evil 2 adaptation. There are differences between this movie and the game. So I just want to acknowledge that… I think it looks really f**king cool to see a horror movie in the snow,’ he added.
With a franchise-record opening weekend, a 96% critical score, and $196.5 million already in the bank, the Resident Evil reboot runtime debate may well be the last thing on Sony’s mind right now. The series’ leanest film is, so far, its most successful.
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