Columbia Pictures’ Resident Evil earned an estimated $5.5 million on October 16 to 18, its fifth weekend, down 35.8 percent, according to Box Office Mojo. That took its domestic total to $148,457,955 and its worldwide total to $361,157,955, with 58.9 percent from international markets. It opened on September 18 to $60,152,878 from 3,684 theatres. Two other holdovers also continue to play: Amazon MGM’s Verity, which opened to $32,031,011 on October 2 and has $66,092,402 domestically, and Paramount’s Heart of the Beast, which opened to $20,042,473 on September 25 and has $58,318,451. The three films have combined worldwide grosses of about $662 million.
The case that the holdovers are healthy begins with Resident Evil. Its domestic total is about 2.5 times its opening weekend, and it fell only 35.8 percent this weekend, a gentler decline than the 70 percent of Other Mommy. Heart of the Beast, in its fourth weekend, earned $4.83 million, down 35.1 percent, and its domestic total of $58.3 million is about 2.9 times its opening. Both films have worldwide totals far larger than their domestic ones, $361.2 million for Resident Evil and $155.5 million for Heart of the Beast, which show that overseas audiences carry much of the weight. Verity has already earned $145.3 million worldwide in three weekends. In the theatre counts, Resident Evil is still in 2,705 theatres, Verity in 3,072 and Heart of the Beast in 3,049, so each remains a wide release. Verity’s worldwide total of $145.3 million includes 54.5 percent from international markets, and Heart of the Beast’s $155.5 million includes 62.5 percent.
The case that the holdovers are fading is in the weekend figures. Resident Evil’s fifth-weekend gross of $5.5 million is less than 10 percent of its $60.2 million opening, and its average of $2,033 per theatre is low. Verity fell 48.3 percent to $6.2 million, a bigger drop than the other two, and its domestic total of $66.1 million is only about 2.1 times its $32.0 million opening, the weakest multiple of the three. Heart of the Beast’s $4.83 million average of $1,584 per theatre is the lowest of the three, and all three lost theatres, with Resident Evil dropping 380, Verity 500 and Heart of the Beast 316. Other holdovers show the same pattern: Forgotten Island fell 52.2 percent to $2.25 million and Primetime 58.6 percent to $1.67 million, so the weekend’s steady decliners are numerous.
The numbers matter because holdovers fill the screens between big openings, and they show what audiences want after the first weekend. Resident Evil’s $361.2 million worldwide total makes it the biggest of the three by a wide margin. For theatre owners across North America and internationally, the steady decline in theatre counts shows how quickly screens move to the next release.
Resident Evil leads the holdovers by a wide margin, while Verity and Heart of the Beast are further behind and losing theatres. The next two weekends will show how much more each film has left. By the numbers so far, Resident Evil is the clear leader of the group.
