22-Year-Old Video Game Adaptation Officially Back From the Dead on Streaming

The year of horror continued last weekend with another addition to 2026's list of box office hits. After the return of Tom Holland's MCU superhero in Spider-Man: Brand New Day topped the charts for the best part of two months, and with Practical Magic 2 flattering to deceive in its opening weekend, it took the arrival of a video game adaptation from one of the hottest new horror directors to turn the box office tide.

Following the success of Barbarian and Weapons, with the latter even scoring an unlikely win at the Academy Awards, Zach Cregger took on the challenge of adapting the beloved video game franchise Resident Evil in the year of its 30th anniversary. Already, Cregger's Resident Evil is proving a big hit, not just outgrossing the lifetime hauls of two previous adaptations but earning the biggest opening weekend haul in the franchise so far by quite some margin. At the time of writing, heading into the film's second weekend, Resident Evil has already made $111 million worldwide and is predicted to have strong staying power in theaters.

Because of Resident Evil's early success at the box office and the strong word of mouth driven by social media, new fans are being encouraged to head back and sample the many previous franchise entries. Thanks to this, Resident Evil: Apocalypse, the second installment in the franchise released in 2004, has quietly been revived on the streaming charts. At the time of writing, the film is one of the ten most-streamed movies on AMC+ in the U.S., a list that also contains other horror hits such as the underrated 2026 slasher Over Your Dead Body.

'Resident Evil' Is Also a Big Hit With Critics

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Cregger's Resident Evil isn't just a hit at the box office. It has also earned a near-perfect critical reception, scoring a 95% average rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Collider's Carly Lane was one of several who awarded high praise to Cregger's adaptation, scoring it an 8/10 in her review and praising the director for putting "a lean, mean spin on the iconic horror franchise." Lots of praise has been awarded to Austin Abrams, who stars as Bryan in a role that both helps drive the horror and offers much-needed comedic relief.