Who says the third time’s the charm?

Resident Evil: Afterlife—the fourth movie in that sci-fi series—topped the box office this weekend with franchise-breaking numbers. The movie, which was offered in 3D, had the best Evil debut to date. (Yes - higher ticket prices did play into this.) Afterlife‘s $26.7 million take surpassed the bar set by Resident Evil: Extinction in 2007. (That outing opened to $23.7 million.)

Since Resident was the only new wide release, the other notable events occurred outside the Top Ten. The Romantics, starring Katie Holmes and Josh Duhamel, opened in limited release with a $45,527 debut. More importantly, the movie averaged $22,764 per theater—the best number for all films over the weekend. In comparison, I’m Still Here—featuring a disheveled Joaquin Phoenix—only had a $5,087 per screen average.

1. Resident Evil: Afterlife, Sony Screen Gems, $26,650,264 (avg. $8320)
2. Takers, Sony Screen Gems, $5,675,611 (avg. $2590)
3. The American, Focus Features, $5,674,240 (avg. $2003)
4. Machete, 20th Century Fox, $4,294,120 (avg. $1603)
5. Going the Distance, Warner Bros., $3,788,222 (avg. $1250)
6. The Other Guys, Sony, $3,347,995 (avg. $1491)
7. The Last Exorcism, Lionsgate, $3,322,853 (avg. $1217)
8. The Expendables, Lionsgate, $3,223,651 (avg. $1054)
9. Eat Pray Love, Sony, $2,928,256 (avg. $1252)
10. Inception, Warner Bros., $2,802,390 (avg. $1770)

(You can review last week’s numbers here.)