Universal and Blumhouse’s haunted horror film ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ looks set to make a killing in its box office debut. The video game adaptation is expected to earn at least $50 million over the weekend, but analysts say the final tally could be higher.
“Five Nights at Freddy’s” is opening at the same time as the Peacock, so it’s particularly impressive that it’s expected to be one of the biggest horror debuts of the year. Currently, the genre’s top debuts in 2023 belong to “Scream VI” ($44.4 million), “The Nun II” ($32 million), “M3GAN” ($30 million) and “The Exorcist: Believer” ($26.4 million).
With the exception of “Five Nights at Freddy’s”, studios seem to be returning to exclusive theatrical windows because they’ve proven to be more profitable than hybrid releases. However, with a production budget of $20 million, “Five Nights at Freddy’s” doesn’t have a high bar to clear to get into the black.
Peacock doesn’t have as many subscribers as Disney+ or Netflix, but the day-and-date debut of “Five Nights” could result in a short-term box office bump. That was the case with Universal’s 2022 slasher sequel “Halloween Ends,” which opened to a hefty $40 million when it landed at the Peacock at the same time.
But ticket sales fell off a cliff in the weeks that followed, finishing with just $64 million in North America and $104 million worldwide. Its predecessor, 2021’s Halloween Kills, launched with $49 million (with a concurrent streaming release), but the film still managed to amass $92 million domestically and $133 million globally.
Neither sequel, however, was able to live up to 2018’s first Halloween reboot, which only played in theatres. The Jamie Lee Curtis-led thriller underperformed expectations with a $76 million opening, and ended its run with $159 million in North America and $259 million worldwide.
Without much competition to scare off, Five Nights at Freddy’s will easily top the domestic charts and provide a much-needed jolt to the autumn box office. It’s been a quiet October except for Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour” and Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon”, which will battle it out for second place. “The Eras Tour” is expected to pull ahead with $13 to $15 million, while “Killers of the Flower Moon” is expected to add $11 to $13 million over the weekend.
Emma Tammi directed “Five Nights at Freddy’s”, starring Josh Hutcherson as a security guard who takes a night job at an abandoned Chuck E. Cheese-esque establishment. But it is not family friendly. He discovers that the animatronic mascots have a sinister side, which leads them to kill anyone still there after midnight.
