Zombies rule American charts

Gore-drenched zombie-fest Resident Evil: Apocalypse ran to the top of the US box office charts this week, taking $23.7 million in its opening weekend.

15:42 14 September 2004

Gore-drenched zombie-fest Resident Evil: Apocalypse ran to the top of the US box office charts this week, taking $23.7 million in its opening weekend.

Based on the 1992 Resident Evil videogame that went on to became one of the best selling console-based franchises of all time and the benchmark for the survival horror genre thereafter, Apocalypse follows on from the 2002 original, which also performed strongly at the box office despite enduring a critical mauling.

Former supermodel Milla Jovovich reprises her zombie-squashing role as gun-toting heroine Alice from the first film, while purist fans of the videogame series will be thrilled to learn that Jill Valentine, star of the first two games, will play a central role in Apocalypse, with newcomer Sienna Guillory taking up arms to do battle against the legions of undead.

Indeed, one of the enduring qualities of the Resident Evil movie franchise and something which has ensured that both films get a healthy box office return at the multiplexes is the director's loyalty to the original source material found in the games.

PW Anderson, returning for his second stab at zombie horror, places the film in the eerie Raccoon City, overrun by creatures back from the dead, with the film's team of heroes forced to uncover, at great cost to human life, an increasingly elaborate plot orchestrated by the evil Umbrella corporation.

As with the first instalment in what must now surely be a burgeoning franchise in this current cinematic climate of sequels and prequels, expect Resident Evil: Apocalypse to do exactly what it says on the tin; gore, girls, guns and guts . . . just not necessarily in that order.

For moviegoers with a more discerning taste - but only just - thriller Cellular, starring old-hand Kim Basinger and the eminently watchable William H Macy came in at number two with $10.6 million, according to industry tracker Exhibitor Relations, while comedy Without a Paddle, featuring Burt Reynolds entered the charts in third, taking $4.5 million.

And the horror is set to continue on the other side of the pond, with Americans getting their first taste of the groundbreaking British rom-zom-com Shaun of the Dead coming out next Friday.

North American box office chart:

1 - Resident Evil: Apocalypse
2 - Cellular
3 - Without a Paddle
4 - Hero
5 - Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement