Who would’ve thought the animatronic antics of Five Nights at Freddy’s would do its part to boost the box office as we head into November? Despite also debuting on the Peacock streaming service, fans of the game came out in big numbers to propel the film to some record-breaking box office for the weekend.
Five Nights at Freddy’s grossed a massive $80 million over the weekend, up from the $78 million that was initially reported in estimates. This ties the debut of Black Widow, which also opened theatrically and on Disney+ during the pandemic, for the best day-and-date opening. The previous winner for this method for Blumhouse was Halloween Ends, which opened to $40 million a year ago and also became the biggest debut for a movie on Peacock, according to the streamer.
Speaking of Blumhouse, this is also the biggest opening for the horror-centric production company, besting the $76.2 million start of 2018’s Halloween. In addition to this, Five Nights at Freddy’s also posted the fifth-best opening for the month of October behind Joker ($96.2 million), Taylor Swift: Eras Tour ($92.8 million), Venom: Let There Be Carnage ($90 million), and Venom ($90 million). Other records that the film topped include its $132 million worldwide opening, which is the biggest global debut for a horror film year to date (ahead of The Nun II’s $88.1 million start), biggest opening weekend for a horror film this year (beating Scream VI’s $44.4 million debut), second biggest opening ever for a video game movie (behind Super Mario Bros.’ $146.3 million from earlier in the year), and the biggest opening for a Halloween weekend movie.
So where does it go from here? Five Night at Freddy’s will easily win this weekend because there is zero competition until The Marvels opens on Nov. 10. Horror films are typically frontloaded and so are films adapted from big IP with big fanbases. The movie could tumble greatly in weekend two but what’s encouraging is that the film earned an “A-” CinemaScore from opening night audiences, which is a golden grade for the horror genre that typically sees grades lower, even when critics love them. The critics didn’t love Five Night at Freddy’s at 27 percent rotten on Rotten Tomatoes but the 89 percent audience score just shows this movie wasn’t made for them. Here’s the deal: Even if the film should crater in the weeks ahead, Blumhouse has made its money back and then some given the movie’s slim $20 million budget. A new franchise is definitely born after this stellar debut.
Dropping to second place is the third weekend of Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, which pulled in $15.4 million. That’s a drop of 53.5 percent as the fanbase continues to come out for the weekend-only engagement. Keep in mind, that the $150 million domestic take to date of the concert film is based purely on weekend sales. On a global scale, The Eras Tour has grossed $203.3 million worldwide as the money pulled in has made Taylor Swift and AMC very happy.
In third place, we find Killers of the Flower Moon, which falls from second with a gross of $9.3 million. That’s a drop of 59.9 percent which is pretty steep but to be expected given the subject matter and the film’s length. I still maintain that for Apple this is more of a marketing boom for their other assets but some box office experts have been fighting back and forth about whether this $200 million movie is actually a flop. It’s really hard to tell. Based on pure numbers, maybe it is, but based on what it means for the bottom line, maybe it’s not. To date, the film has grossed $44.3 million domestically and $88.3 million worldwide.
After Death lands in fourth place with a gross of $5 million. The documentary comes from Angel Studios and details the afterlife based on real near-death experiences, conveyed by scientists, authors, and survivors. This is the same distributor that released Sound of Freedom to big numbers over the summer and the fact that this documentary got very little mainstream promotion, shows just how strong the fanbase is for projects like this. The doc earned an “A-” CinemaScore and could have moderate legs in the weeks ahead.
Rounding out the top five is The Exorcist: Believer, otherwise known as the movie Blumhouse/Universal Pictures put their October hopes on when they really should’ve gone all in on Five Nights at Freddy’s from the start. The movie earned $3.2 million, down 42.8 percent as it took advantage of the last bit of spooky season it had left. Domestically, the film has earned $60.7 million and $122.1 million worldwide, which bodes well for its $30 million budget but is still up in the air based on the $400 million it cost to gain the rights. We’ll have to wait and see how the next two films in the trilogy perform before a proper assessment can be made.
What are your thoughts on this weekend’s box office? Check back next week on a pretty slow frame which should see Five Nights at Freddy’s maintaining the top spot.
Hello! My name is Gaius Bolling: movie, TV, and pop culture junkie! The industry has been in my veins since I was a kid and I have carried that on through adulthood. I attended Los Angeles Film Academy and participated in their screenwriting and editing program. From there, I have learned to hone my skills in the world of entertainment journalism. Some of my favorite genres include horror, action, and drama and I hope to share my love of all of this with you.