2026’s Best Survival Horror Movie Officially Removed From 1,700 Theaters

He has covered everything from Marvel to the Oscars, and Marvel at the Oscars. He also writes obsessively about the box office, charting the many hits and misses that are released weekly, and how their commercial performance shapes public perception. In his time at Collider, he has also helped drive diversity by writing stories about the multiple Indian film industries, with a goal of introducing audiences to a whole new world of cinema. 

One of the best-reviewed wide releases of the year is nearing the end of its record-breaking box-office run. The movie is on the verge of passing what could be its final global box-office milestone, which could prove to be difficult because of a new obstacle. The movie has successfully fended off competition for several weeks, but it has also gradually lost a significant chunk of its theater count. As it enters its seventh week in theaters, the film finds itself playing in 200 fewer theaters than in its sixth week. Starring Austin Abrams in the lead role, the film was directed by Zach Cregger, who has completed a hat trick for the ages.

Cregger broke out with the ambitious horror hit Barbarian, which grossed nearly $50 million worldwide against a reported budget of less than $5 million in 2022. The movie received tremendous reviews and is now sitting at a “Certified Fresh” 92% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. In 2025, Cregger released Weapons, which went on to win an Oscar and grossed around $270 million worldwide against a reported budget of $38 million. Like Barbarian, Weapons was critically acclaimed. It’s now sitting at a 93% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Cregger’s latest film has outperformed both his previous features.

Your instincts, your strengths, and your particular way of thinking under pressure point to one villain you actually have a fighting chance against. Everyone else — good luck.

Jason is relentless, but he is also predictable — and that is the gap you would exploit.

• He moves in straight lines toward his target. He doesn’t strategise, doesn’t adapt, doesn’t outsmart. He simply pursues.
• Your ability to keep moving, use the environment, and resist the panic that freezes most victims gives you a genuine edge.
• The Crystal Lake survivors were always the ones who stopped running in circles and started thinking about terrain, water, and distance.
• You think like that. Which means Jason, for all his indestructibility, would face someone who simply refused to be where he expected.

Michael watches before he moves. He is patient, methodical, and almost impossible to detect — until it’s too late for anyone who isn’t paying close enough attention.

• But you are paying attention. You notice the shape in the window, the car parked slightly wrong, the silence where there should be sound.
• Michael’s power lies in the invisibility of ordinary suburbia — the fact that nothing ever looks wrong until it already is.
• Your spatial awareness and instinct to map every room, every exit, and every shadow before you need them is precisely the quality Laurie Strode had.
• You are not a victim waiting to happen. You are someone who already suspects something is wrong — and acts on it.

Freddy wins by getting inside your head — using your own fears, your own memories, your own subconscious as weapons against you. That strategy requires a target who can be destabilised.

• You are harder to destabilise than most. You’ve faced uncomfortable truths about yourself and you haven’t looked away.
• The survivors on Elm Street were always the ones who understood what was happening and chose to face it rather than flee from it.
• Freddy’s greatest weakness is that his power evaporates in the presence of someone who refuses to give him the fear he feeds on.
• Your psychological resilience — the ability to stay grounded when reality itself becomes unreliable — is exactly the quality that keeps you alive here.

Pennywise is ancient, shapeshifting, and feeds on terror — but it has one critical vulnerability: it cannot function against someone who genuinely stops being afraid of it.

• The Losers Club didn’t survive because they were braver than everyone else. They survived because they faced their fears together, and faced them honestly.
• You ask the questions others avoid. You look directly at what frightens you rather than turning away.
• That directness — the refusal to let fear fester in the dark — is Pennywise’s worst nightmare.
• It chose the wrong target when it chose you. You are exactly the kind of person whose fear tastes like nothing at all.

Chucky’s greatest advantage is that nobody takes him seriously until it’s already too late. He exploits the gap between how something looks and what it actually is.

• You don’t have that gap. You take threats seriously regardless of how they present — and you never make the mistake of underestimating something because of its size or appearance.
• Chucky relies on surprise, on the delay between recognition and response. You close that delay faster than almost anyone.
• Your instinct to treat every unfamiliar thing with appropriate scepticism — rather than dismissing it because it seems absurd — is the exact quality that keeps you breathing.
• Against Chucky, not laughing is already winning. You are very good at not laughing.

Here’s How Much the Movie Has Grossed So Far

• Image via Sony Pictures Releasing / Courtesy Everett Collection

• Image via Columbia Pictures

• Image via Columbia Pictures

• Image via Columbia Pictures

• Image via Columbia Pictures

Image via Sony Pictures Releasing / Courtesy Everett Collection

Image via Columbia Pictures

Image via Columbia Pictures

Image via Columbia Pictures

Image via Columbia Pictures

• Image via Sony Pictures Releasing / Courtesy Everett Collection

• Image via Columbia Pictures

• Image via Columbia Pictures

• Image via Columbia Pictures

• Image via Columbia Pictures

Image via Sony Pictures Releasing / Courtesy Everett Collection

Image via Columbia Pictures

Image via Columbia Pictures

Image via Columbia Pictures

Image via Columbia Pictures

We’re talking, of course, about Resident Evil. A reboot of the long-running survival horror franchise, the new movie has so far grossed $385 million worldwide against a reported budget of $75 million. The movie holds a 96% score on Rotten Tomatoes, where the consensus reads, “Packing unforgettable scares into a sleek runtime while Austin Abrams’ crack comedic timing provides crucial levity, Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil is a propulsive tribute to the pleasure and terror of playing a truly spooky video game.” Having debuted in 3,684 theaters in September, the movie is now playing in 1,943 theaters. This represents a total decrease of around 1,700 locations nationwide. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.

Resident Evil

Bryan, a medical courier, heads to Raccoon City General Hospital for what should be an ordinary delivery. His mission turns dangerous when an undead outbreak erupts and traps him in a terrifying night of chaos.