One of the key questions that surrounded the theatrical release of the supernatural horror filmFive Nights at Freddy’s, the film adaptation of the popular franchise and video game series of the same name, is whether the bulk of the franchise’s rabid fandom would go to see the film in a theater or would instead choose to watch the film through the streaming service Peacock.
Moreover, while the film’s robust theatrical pre-sales total certainly heralded a front-loaded box office trajectory forFive Night at Freddy’s, the film nonetheless became a box office success in just its opening weekend of theatrical release, especially since the film’s streaming revenue has doubtlessly already exceeded the film’s modest production cost.
Indeed,Five Nights at Freddy’sbroke so many box office records in just its opening weekend of theatrical release that it’s easier to count these milestones than the franchise’s colorful assortment of iconic animatronic characters.
Slaying Box Office Records
Five Nights at Freddy’s
During its opening weekend of release at the domestic box office, the industry projections forFive Nights at Freddy’shad the film grossing approximately $50 million.
The initial $50 million projection was discarded afterFive Nights at Freddy’sgrossed awhopping $39.4 milliondomestically in its first day of theatrical release. This represented the biggest-ever domestic opening-day box office performance for a film with a simultaneous streaming release.
Five Nights at Freddy’s Cast and Character Guide
Come meet the cast and characters of Five Nights at Freddy’s.
Accordingly, the film’s domestic opening weekend estimate was raised to $78 million, and the film’s eventual domestic box office opening weekend gross turned out to be approximately $80 million.
While the $80 million figure obviously enabledFive Nights at Freddy’sto easily take the top on the domestic box office chart, ahead of the concert filmTaylor Swift: The Eras Tour, the $80 million domestic opening weekend performance also set several box office records.
The $80 million figure represented the best domestic opening weekend for ahorror film in 2023and the best ever domestic opening weekend performance for production company Blumhouse Productions, above the $76.2 million domestic opening weekend performance of the 2018 Blumhouse filmHalloween. This was also easily the best domestic opening weekend box office performance for a Peacock day-and-date film, handily beating the $49.4 million domestic opening weekend box office performance of the 2021 filmHalloween Kills.
The Freddy Phenomenon
InFive Nights at Freddy’s, Josh Hutcherson plays Mike Schmidt, a distressed mall security guard who, after assaulting a neglectful father whom Mike mistook for a kidnapper, is sent to visit a career counselor, Steve Raglan, who subsequently offers Mike a nighttime security guard job at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, a once-prosperous but presently downtrodden family entertainment center and restaurant, which is, of course, populated by a gallery of seemingly dormant animatronic mascots.
While Hutcherson has certainly gained a strong following throughout his career, specifically through his attachment to theHunger Gamesfilm series, there’s no data to suggest that Hutcherson’s appearance, or name, has had a substantial effect on the box office performance ofFive Nights at Freddy’s.
Five Nights at Freddy’s Review: A Solid Mystery Worthy of the Blumhouse Brand
Five Nights at Freddy’s is a bit better than those nasty Rotten Tomatoes scores the majority of critics are doling out.
Indeed, the box office and streaming success ofFive Night at Freddy’sseems to be primarily attributable to the seemingly rampant popularity of the franchise’s IP, which consists of books, graphic novels, a walk-through horror attraction, merchandising, and a video game series, which has generated more than $30 million in revenue through the Steam video game digital distribution service.
While the support for a popular franchise IP sometimes fails to congeal around a subsequent feature film adaptation, as seen with the recent disappointing box office performance ofGran Turismo, the film adaptation of the popular racing simulationvideo game seriesof the same name, the film adaptation ofFive Nights at Freddy’sseems to have thoroughly galvanized the franchise’s uniquely loyal and passionate fandom.
An Instant Smash Horror Hit
Given the film’s outsized pre-sales performance and the obviously younger-skewing nature of its core audience, it was hardly surprisingthatFive Nights at Freddy’sexperienced a precipitous decline in its second weekend at the domestic box office.
Five Nights at Freddy’sgrossed approximately $19.4 million in its second weekend at the domestic box office, down approximately seventy-six percent from the $80 million debut. However, while this certainly represents a big drop, it’s still impressive given that the film is available for streaming viewing on Peacock and has received a negative critical reaction.
Five Nights at Freddy’shas presently grossed approximately $113.6 million at the domestic box office and $103.5 million overseas for a current worldwide total gross of approximately $217.1 million.
With a reported production cost of approximately $25 million, which should be easily eclipsed by the film’s excellent streaming performance,Five Nights at Freddy’shas already become very profitable for distributor Universal Pictures, for whom any future box office revenue from the film will probably seem like icing on a proverbial cake.
