‘Resident Evil’: Will ‘The Final Chapter’ Actually Be Final?

With the recent teaser trailer for ‘Resident Evil: The Final Chapter’ cropping up to scare us, the series promises to be setting up the final carnage crescendo. But will ‘The Final Chapter’ actually be final?

A day or so ago, Screen Gem’s unveiled the teaser trailer for the sixth installment in the Resident Evil franchise, Resident Evil: The Final Chapter. The footage was fast, fun, and engagingly energetic; everything a Resident Evil should be (at this point in the game). The movie looks like a monstrous good time, but will The Final Chapter actually be so final?

The quick answer is no, probably not. But before you go imagining consuming my corpse like the zombies that you are; grab some popcorn, put those post-apocalyptic feet up, and get ready for my grandiose reasons.

Emerging Markets

The International Market

For starters, there’s the money these suckers are starting to rake in.Like mad kids cleaning the front lawn for good old grandma, the profit possibility of the series is staggering. Based on the 1996 Sony PlayStation horror classic by Capcom, the Resident Evil film franchise has made millions, not in the domestic market but internationally, in places ready to be scared across the world.

According to Box Office Mojo, the original Resident Evil was released March 15th, 2002 to a weekend tally of $17M. Made on a budget of $33M, the first in Paul W.S. Anderson‘s video game fright film franchise went on to make $102,441,078 when all the zombie dollars were counted; $62M from foreign gross.

Now let’s contrast that with the series’ most recent outing. Released on September 14th 2012, Resident Evil: Retribution, the fifth installment which debuted ten years after the original, welcomed a weekend total of $21M. Made for $65M, the film would go on to make $240M when all said and done. With only $42M coming from domestic gross, that’s a lot of profit coming in from areas outside of America.

With markets like China becoming more and more relevant to the feature film business, this is just the beginning. If you match the take percentages side by side, Resident Evil’s business in 2002 was 39.2% domestic and 60% foreign whereas Resident Evil: Retribution’s business in 2012 was 17.6% domestic and 82.4% foreign.

That’s a staggering difference, a true trend the industry can’t ignore. If January’s Resident Evil: The Final Chapter crushes it in the foreign markets, Screen Gems will keep pumping out these out like rare dog owners breeding pups.

More from Horror Movies

• Godzilla Minus One makes the King of the Monsters terrifying again
• A Creature Was Stirring scares up yuletide frights
• Pig Killer (2023): A morally ambiguous dive into shock cinema
• Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls: Demonically fun times
• Tobin Bell stars in new horror movie The Cello

The VOD Market

Then there’s the home market. With more and more films being available at home the same day as in the theater, and even some becoming TV movies (the Divergent Series), Resident Evil franchise could take on a life of itself somewhere else.

As technology grows, and fandom for horror seemingly following it, I wouldn’t be shocked to find out Resident Evil continuing on. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if the film franchise continued on as Netflix series. Stranger Things have happened.

So, will you be seeing Resident Evil: The Final Chapter this January?

Next: Will ‘The Walking Dead’ TV Series Reveal Negan’s Backstory?

stars

Milla Jovovich

, and

The film is written and directed by Paul W.S Anderson. Screen Gems will release

on January 27th, 2017 in cinemas everywhere.

Love Resident Evil? Looking forward to The Final Chapter? Let the post-apocalyptic posse know what you think in the comment section below and lets all survive together.