Five Nights At Freddy's Dominates Box Office with Record-Breaking Opening Weekend

Summary

Five Nights at Freddy's has had a massive opening weekend, surpassing expectations and earning $78 million domestically and $52 million internationally.

The film's global box office earnings have reached $130 million, surpassing Blumhouse's previous record by nearly $40 million and establishing it as their biggest opening weekend. Additionally, this adaptation of the beloved horror video game series has achieved the title of the highest-grossing opening weekend for a horror film in 2023.

Five Nights at Freddy's had a remarkably successful opening weekend, surpassing initial projections. This Blumhouse movie, featuring Josh Hutcherson as a security guard protecting his sister from murderous animatronics in a closed-down family restaurant, is based on the popular horror video game franchise by Scott Cawthon. Projections estimated an opening weekend gross of around $50 million, but the movie exceeded expectations by earning $78 million at the domestic box office in just three days. Notably, this achievement marks the best opening weekend for a horror movie in 2023.

According to Variety, Five Nights at Freddy's continues to break records even after factoring in its global opening weekend performance. Alongside the impressive $78 million domestic gross, it generated an additional $52 million from international markets, resulting in a worldwide gross of $130 million. This extraordinary outcome represents the most successful opening weekend for Blumhouse, surpassing the previous record set by Halloween in 2018, which premiered at $91.8 million, by an astounding $40 million.

Five Nights at Freddy's Is A Box Office Sensation in More Ways Than One

The success of the Five Nights at Freddy's movie at the box office cannot be emphasized enough. During its debut weekend, the film almost broke numerous significant records in addition to recouping over six times its $20 million production cost. Among these achievements is the distinction of being the highest-grossing horror movie of 2023 upon its release. However, it falls short of surpassing the opening weekend performance of this year's blockbuster, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which holds the title for the second-best opening weekend ever for a video game adaptation.

Despite not being able to promote the movie due to the ongoing Screen Actors Guild strike, Five Nights at Freddy's has achieved impressive results. It earned the second-best domestic opening weekend for a day-and-date streaming release, with only Disney+'s Black Widow surpassing it at $80 million. Additionally, it holds the record for the best day-and-date opening weekend on Peacock. Although the simultaneous streaming release is estimated to have decreased the movie's box office earnings by approximately 10 percent, it is evident that Five Nights at Freddy's could have achieved even greater success if not for the strike and the Peacock release. The movie's financial invincibility is evident from its opening weekend, leaving us curious to see how much higher it can climb. Its future challenges include the typical significant drop in week 2 for horror films and the potential decline in general interest in horror-related content after Halloween.

Source: Variety