Five Nights at Freddy's Achieves Major Box Office Milestone despite Significant 78% Second-Weekend Decline

Article Overview

Five Nights at Freddy's experiences a significant 78% drop in box office earnings in its second weekend, earning only $17.8 million.

Despite the drop, the horror movie maintains its No. 1 spot at the box office.

It also surpasses the $100 million milestone with a cumulative domestic total of $112 million.

Despite a significant drop in its second weekend, the Blumhouse horror film, Five Nights at Freddy's, has achieved an important milestone at the box office. Based on the popular video game franchise of the same name, created by co-screenwriter Scott Cawthon, the movie stars Josh Hutcherson as Mike, a young man who works as a security guard at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, only to discover that the animatronics there have minds of their own and a dark secret. According to Deadline, the movie's box office earnings experienced a catastrophic 78% decrease in its second domestic weekend, bringing in only $17.8 million. Despite this, it still managed to secure the top spot at the box office for the second consecutive weekend and surpassed the $100 million mark, with a cumulative domestic total of $112 million.

Why the Five Nights at Freddy's Box Office Run is So Bizarre

The turnout for the second week is a stark contrast to the impressive opening weekend of Five Nights at Freddy's. The movie earned $80 million, surpassing expectations by $30 million and making it the highest-grossing horror movie opening of 2023. This success was largely driven by the popularity of the franchise among young audiences, who flocked to theaters during the Halloween weekend. While the drop in attendance during the second week may seem surprising, there are several factors that have contributed to the fluctuation in the movie's performance.

One factor that has affected the box office numbers is the end of October, which is traditionally a strong month for horror movie viewership. Additionally, Five Nights at Freddy's was released simultaneously on the streaming platform Peacock, which may have deterred some people from going to theaters to watch it. Furthermore, the ongoing Screen Actors Guild strike has prevented the cast of Five Nights at Freddy's, including Elizabeth Lail, Mary Stuart Masterson, and Matthew Lillard, from promoting the movie. These actors are advocating for fair pay, which has impacted their availability to participate in promotional activities.

Five Nights at Freddy's achieved the highest viewership on Peacock within its initial five days. Despite the movie's box office performance declining in the upcoming weeks, it will not have a significant long-term impact. The horror film had a budget of $20 million, and it has already generated profits without considering its impressive streaming figures on Peacock. Given these statistics, it is highly probable that Blumhouse will move forward with the production of the sequel, Five Nights at Freddy's 2.

Source: Deadline

Editor's P/S

As a Gen Z netizen, I have mixed feelings about the box office performance of Five Nights at Freddy's. On the one hand, I am impressed by its strong opening weekend and the fact that it managed to surpass the $100 million mark domestically despite a significant drop in its second weekend. This indicates that the movie has a strong fan base and that there is still a lot of interest in the franchise.

On the other hand, I am concerned about the steep decline in box office earnings in its second weekend. This suggests that the movie may not have the staying power to maintain its success in the long run. It will be interesting to see how the movie performs in the coming weeks and whether it can continue to attract audiences.

Overall, I think Five Nights at Freddy's is a solid horror movie that has the potential to be a successful franchise. However, it will need to maintain its momentum in the coming weeks in order to achieve its full potential.