The Resident Evil Movie Is Already Breaking Records

The Resident Evil movie from Weapons and Barbarian director Zach Cregger officially releases today, September 18, but like many big movies, it actually debuted the night prior. The movie made $9 million or more in the US for its Thursday previews, according to Deadline, and that's a record for the series. Experts predict the movie will make between $40 million and $50 million for its first weekend in the US, and now it could go higher, the report said. Austin Abrams in Resident Evil. The previous record for a first-weekend Thursday-night haul in the Resident Evil series was $1 million for 2016's Resident Evil: The Final Chapter. No other entry in the series eclipsed $1 million for Thursday previews. Resident Evil's Thursday previews are pacing well ahead of Cregger's last movie, Weapons, which made $5.75 million in previews and went on to earn $43.5 million for its first weekend in the US. According to Deadline, the Resident Evil movie had a budget of $75 million, but that does not count marketing expenses. Also worth mentioning is that the Thursday numbers for Resident Evil are based on Deadline's "distribution sources," and not official numbers from the studio. The Resident Evil…