Five Nights at Freddy’s tanked at the box office but still managed to come out on top. Universal and Blumhouse’s fall sleeper hit has collected $19.4 million in its sophomore release, a massive 76% drop from its debut.
Universal and Blumhouse’s spooky video game adaptation, set in a Chuck E. Cheese-style haunted house, has grossed a massive $113 million to date. Despite the dramatic decline, “Five Nights at Freddy’s” earned far more than expected with its $80 million opening weekend. So second-weekend ticket sales are still decent for the $20 million-budgeted film, which landed simultaneously on streaming service Peacock.
Although Peacock has far fewer subscribers than rivals like Disney and Netflix, box office analysts believe its day-to-day digital release is the reason for the huge drop in ticket sales. Even if that’s the case, “Five Nights at Freddy’s” is a big commercial winner. After ten days of release, it is already the highest-grossing horror film of the year, surpassing The Nun II ($85 million), M3GAN ($95 million) and Scream VI ($108 million). Dollar).
“‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ crashes in its second weekend of simultaneous streaming,” said David A. Gross, who runs the film consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research. “The two viewing options compete with each other. An exclusive cinema broadcast ensures the highest overall box office results, increases the film and creates anticipation for the subsequent streaming premiere.”
Otherwise, it was a quiet weekend at the box office as two new releases – Meg Ryan’s romantic comedy “What Happens Later” and Neil Burger’s psychological thriller “The Marsh King’s Daughter” – failed to make the top five. The total domestic box office grossed about $59 million over the weekend, one of the lowest grosses of the year.
“What Happens Later,” which stars Ryan and David Duchovny as ex-partners who accidentally reunite at the airport, debuted at No. 9 with a tepid $1.5 million in 1,492 theaters. Things went even worse in “The Marsh King’s Daughter,” starring Daisy Ridley as the daughter of a kidnapper who escapes from prison. The film “Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions” opened at No. 12 with a dismal $820,000 from 1,055 theaters.
With no prominent newcomers, “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” remained in second place, collecting $13.5 million in its fourth weekend of release. The film grossed $166 million in North America, only strengthening its position as the highest-grossing concert film in domestic box office history. “The Eras Tour” broke that record with $92 million in its opening weekend, surpassing the total domestic run of 2011’s “Justin Bieber: Never Say Never” ($72 million).
In third place was Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” which grossed $7 million from 3,786 theaters, down slightly 25% from the previous weekend. Ticket sales for the crime epic starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro will need to maintain this box office staying power to justify its $200 million budget. To date, “Flower Moon” has grossed $52 million domestically and $100 million worldwide after a three-week release. However, Apple, which has backed the big-budget tentpole and hired Paramount to handle its theatrical release, may not have the same benchmarks for success compared to traditional Hollywood players. These are bets that give the attention of the season and the feed from Apple TV+ will help confirm the price.
Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla Presley biopic “Priscilla” landed in fourth place, grossing a better-than-expected $5 million as A24 expanded the film to 1,259 theaters. The well-reviewed film opened in limited release to $132,139 in four theaters and has grossed $5.3 million to date. “Priscilla,” an awards season hopeful and a very different take on Baz Luhrmann’s kaleidoscopic 2022 biopic “Elvis,” will expand further this fall.
“[Romantic dramas] “They’re not big movies, but when they connect, they’re good to go,” Gross says. “That could still happen here.”
Pantelion’s “Radical” rounds out the top five, pushing Universal’s “The Exorcist: Believer” into sixth place. The Spanish-language film, starring Eugenio Derbez, grossed $2.7 million in its weekend debut in 419 theaters.