This past January, Sony Screen Gems boasted the epic conclusion to the Resident Evil film series. Resident Evil: The Final Chapter ended Alice’s (Milla Jovovich) story that was told by director-producer-husband Paul W.S. Anderson since the first video game adaptation hit theaters in 2002.
Considering it was the sixth film in the franchise, it was excellent, also carrying one of the biggest genre twists of the last decade. But nobody was talking about it. In fact, the release sort of came and went, whimpering to only $26 million here in the states (which is a huge bust considering the $40 million production budget, plus marketing expenses). While the previous five all carried consistent numbers, this was the first to really flounder; it showed that audiences who had grown up on the franchise had bailed.
But the numbers are deceiving, especially the domestic take. If you dig deeper into the franchise on Box Office Mojo, you’ll find that there’s a steady climb internationally. Yes, each and every Resident Evil film performed better and better overseas, which is the reason why the franchise was able to continue on despite it losing money here in the States. In fact, the fourth film, Afterlife, topped $300 million worldwide. Holy shit, right?
So what am I getting at? While we’ve already forgot all about The Final Chapter, it’s decimating the international box office. A quick look at Box Office Mojo shows that nearly touching $240 million worldwide. That’s insane. But get this, that number does NOT include China’s opening weekend. Just how big did it open? Uhm….$94.3 million. This mean that Resident Evil‘s final chapter is going to top $350 million worldwide on a $40 million budget. That also makes the film the biggest success out of all of the films. Screen Gems already dubbed this the conclusion of Alice’s story (even though there’s still an epilogue that leaves the door open for more), so what to do?
Let’s go all the way back to 2009. Bloody Disgusting had reported exclusively that Screen Gems was going to remake Resident Evil with Resident Evil Begins. Paul W.S. Anderson’s originally trilogy had come to a close with Resident Evil: Extinction, and he was poised to move on to other things once he completed Afterlife. But, again, international numbers (see above) made it difficult to walk away from. Afterlife was such a mega-hit that it has propelled us to the sixth film that was released this past January. With that said…
So, Screen Gems and Constantin Films find themselves in a precarious position once again. Do they push Anderson to continue the franchise or do they reboot it? There’s no way – I repeat, there’s NO WAY that they don’t remake Resident Evil with these kind of box office numbers. So, while this may have been Alice’s final chapter, it’s not the franchise’s. Long live Resident Evil, the only video game adaptation that’s found an audience.
