Universal and Blumhouse’s funhouse thriller “Five Nights at Freddy’s” exceeded box office expectations with its spooky $78 million domestic debut over Halloween weekend.
These ticket sales are particularly impressive given that the horror film simultaneously landed on Peacock, NBCUniversal’s streaming service. It’s the second-best opening weekend for a daily streaming release behind Disney’s 2021 Marvel adventure “Black Widow” ($80 million in theaters and $60 million on Disney+) and the best ever for hybrid releases from Universal and Peacock, topping slasher sequels, 2021’s “Halloween Kills” ($49 million) and 2022’s “Halloween Ends” ($40 million).
Heading into the weekend, Five Nights at Freddy’s was expected to gross at least $50 million, which would have been a huge start for the genre. It’s now considered the biggest horror debut of the year, surpassing the debuts of better-known franchises like “Scream VI” ($44.4 million) and “The Nun II” ($32 million). Among its many records, “Five Nights at Freddy’s” also secured the second-largest opening weekend for a video game adaptation, trailing only this year’s blockbuster “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” ($146.3 million).
“The IP is incredibly popular, and Blumhouse and our director Emma Tammi have done a great job bringing it to the big screen,” said Jim Orr, president of domestic distribution at Universal. “The genre is suitable for people who want to experience it together.”
Based on the popular video game Five Nights at Freddy’s, Josh Hutcherson plays a nighttime security guard at an abandoned Chuck E. Cheese-like establishment who discovers that the animatronic mascots are prone to murder. The reviews are terrible (25% on Rotten Tomatoes), but that doesn’t matter because audiences love the PG-13 film, which has a CinemaScore of “A-“. Word of mouth may be hot enough to prevent the second-weekend slump that usually plagues horror films. But even if ticket sales collapse, the $20 million film is already a box office winner.
“Five Nights at Freddy’s cracked the code on how to seamlessly bring the engaging elements of characters and gameplay to the screen,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior Comscore analyst. “With its perfectly timed Halloween release date, it’s no wonder ‘Five Nights’ performed at this level.”
“Five Nights at Freddy’s” grossed an additional $52 million at the international box office, bringing its worldwide gross to a whopping $130 million. It also ranks as the biggest global horror film opening of the year, ahead of The Nun II ($88.1 million worldwide), as well as Blumhouse’s biggest debut of all time, surpassing 2018’s Halloween (91.8 worldwide). million US dollars).
“It’s so much fun when it works. Thank you to everyone who was patient with us [“Five Nights at Freddy’s]. We wanted to make it just right for the fans,” Blumhouse founder Jason Blum wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “And it’s official. Greatest Blumhouse opening film of all time.”
“Five Nights at Freddy’s” isn’t just a win for Universal and Blumhouse. That’s a significant boost for theaters, where treats are few and tricks abound as the SAG strike drags on. Scary films have been particularly well positioned at the box office at a time when actors are unable to promote their projects.
“This type of release is spared from the strike. There’s no need for red carpets or appearances and interviews with actors,” says David A. Gross, who runs the film consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research. “This is about great promotional materials and social media.”
It was a less forgiving time for star-studded films like Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, which dropped a whopping 61% in its second weekend of release. The film, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro, took third place with $9 million from 3,632 theaters. So far, the film has grossed $40.6 million at the domestic box office and $88 million worldwide.
“Killers of the Flower Moon” will need staying power to justify its massive $200 million price tag. Because of its non-traditional backers (Apple produced the film, giving it the widest release ever for a film backed by a streaming service), “Flower Moon” doesn’t have as clear a metric of success as the average big-budget tentpole. Apple, which hired Paramount Pictures to distribute, places less emphasis on box office and sees ticket sales as a way to boost the film’s profile before it ends up on streaming.
“Killers of the Flower Moon” once again finished behind “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour,” which brought in $14.7 million in its third weekend on the big screen. The concert film, distributed by AMC Theaters and not showing during the week, has grossed $149.3 million in North America and $203 million worldwide.
Among special releases, A24’s “Priscilla” opened with a strong $132,139 opening across four theaters ($33,035 per theater) in New York and Los Angeles. Directed by Sofia Coppola and starring Cailee Spaeny and Jacob Elordi, the film follows the life of Priscilla Presley and her relationship with the King of Rock and Roll. “Priscilla,” a well-reviewed and very different take on Baz Luhrmann’s kaleidoscopic 2022 biopic “Elvis,” will air nationwide Nov. 3.
The weekend’s most limited opening, albeit slightly, belonged to Focus Features’ drama “The Holdovers,” which grossed $200,000 in six theaters ($33,333 per location). Alexander Payne directed the film, which stars Paul Giamatti as a grumpy prep school teacher who stays on campus with students who can’t go home for Christmas break. Next weekend, the footprint will slowly expand to about 60 theaters in the 20 largest markets.
“As we saw from the fantastic audience response this weekend and throughout the fall festival season, Alexander Payne continues to masterfully tell human stories that connect us,” said Lisa Bunnell, sales director at Focus. “This weekend’s performance gives us confidence to expand the film ahead of the holiday season.”
There’s more to come…