Box office: ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ shocks with $130.6 million global opening

Edward Douglas
·6 min read
4

Halloweekend saw a huge horror hit, in fact the biggest opening for this weekend ever, and many movie writers and critics felt older than usual with that movie’s jaw-dropping success among the youth. Read on for the weekend box office report.

Universal and Blumhouse had been developing a movie based on Scott Cawthorn‘s popular video game series, “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” for quite some time, and it was finally released this weekend into 3,675 theaters. Starring Josh Hutcherson (“The Hunger Games”), reviews were harsh, as it only received 25% on RottenTomatoes, but this was always to be expected based on the younger age range of fans of the games and books.

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After making a whopping $10.3 million from Thursday previews – more than the $7.7 million made by David Gordon Green‘s “Halloween” reboot in 2018 – the PG-13 rated “Freddy’s” brought in $39.5 million on Friday (including previews). That was more than 2019’s “Joker,” currently the top October opener, more than the $37.4 million made by “Venom: Let There be Carnage” in 2021, and more than the $37.5 million opening for Taylor Swift‘s concert movie just a few weeks back. Ultimately, it was heavily frontloaded, due to the fanbase rushing out to see the movie as soon as possible, and it ended up with an estimated $78 million domestically. That’s the fifth-biggest October opening, just behind 2018’s “Venom,” and reportedly, 94% of the movie’s domestic audience was under 35.

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What makes that number even more impressive is that for whatever reason, Universal decided to release “Freddy’s” day-and-date on its Peacock streaming service, so in theory, many people could have just stayed home to watch it via streaming. Instead, the youngsters chose specifically to see the movie based on their beloved property in theaters. Even more shocking is that the fans gave “Five Nights” an “A-” CinemaScore, a rarity for horror films in general with previous movies to be rated so highly including Jordan Peele‘s “Get Out” (an Oscar Best Picture nominee) and 2021’s “A Quiet Place Part II.”

“Freddy’s” also opened overseas in 60 territories, where it grossed $52.6 million, for a global opening of $130.6 million. Mexico was the real winner there with $10.8 million across 3,000 screens, while the UK & Ireland was second with $6.3 million on 850 screens.

As much as “Freddy’s arrival had a positive effect on the overall box office, it didn’t help returning movies, all of which had significant drops, including other horror films that normally may have thrived over Halloweekend.

“Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” has a slightly smaller drop in its third weekend, down 56% to second place with $14.7 million added to its total of $149.4 million with one last weekend in theaters, although it will also have screenings on Halloween Tuesday. Swift’s concert movie added another $6.7 million overseas this weekend to put its global total over the $200 million mark with $203 million.

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Surprisingly, Martin Scorsese‘s acclaimed crime-drama “Killers of the Flower Moon” was hit harder by the presence of the younger-skewing “Freddy’s” than expected, dropping 61% to third place with $9 million and $40.7 million total. Much of the discussion over the past few weeks have been about the movie’s length, and that could definitely be holding it back.

Angel Studios released Stephen Gray‘s documentary “After Death,” exploring what happens after we die, into 2,605 theaters with a similar “pay it forward” ticket-buying campaign as the studio’s blockbuster “Sound of Freedom.” After making $2.2 million on Friday, it brought in an estimated $5.1 million over the weekend to take fourth place. It also received an “A-” from audiences polled by CinemaScore.

Fifth place went to “The Exorcist: Believer,” taking advantage of the Halloweekend to bring in another $3.1 mllion (down 46%) to bring its total to $59.4 million. It’s already available to rent or buy on VOD, but it could get a bump on Tuesday.

One movie that shouldn’t have been affected as much by “Five Nights” was Paramount’s “PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie,” but it ended up in sixth place with $2.2 million, down 51% to bring its total to $59.2 million. It still has a few weeks before the release of the next major studio animated family film.

Relativity Media tried to make a theatrical comeback with the action-comedy “Freelance,” starring Jon Cena and Alison Brie, but it came into a weekend with a startling 0% on Rotten Tomatoes. Awareness was quite low, so even a release into 2,057 theaters didn’t help it get into the Top 5. It ended up making $2.1 million, averaging $1,001 per location. Those who did see it didn’t necessarily like it, going by the “B-” CinemaScore.

The 30th Anniversary re-release of “Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas” dropped to eighth place with $2 million (down 53%) for a re-release total of $7.9 million.

“Saw X” has probably ended its tenure in the Top 10 with a ninth place showing of $1.7 million, down 53% from last weekend, so not helped by Halloweekend, which it once reigned over, and with $50.3 million domestic gross. We’ll have to see if it can achieve the $56 million gross of the original “Saw” or 2008’s “Saw V,” although Lionsgate is already prepping an 11th installment.

Two movies expanding wider in November received platform releases in New York and L.A. on Friday, as Alexander Payne‘s “The Holdovers” opened in six theaters to the tune of $200,000, roughly $33,333 per theater. It will expand into 60 locations on Friday.

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Sofia Coppola‘s “Priscilla,” starring Cailee Spaeney as Priscilla Presley and Jacob Elordi as Elvis Presley, opened in four New York and L.A. theaters, where it brought in $132,000, averaging roughly $33,035 per location.

Most players in Gold Derby’s box office prediction game wisely put “Freddy’s” in the top spot, though more players had “Killers of the Flower Moon” beating Taylor Swift both for second and third place. (That latter is correct.) The real decider will be the 10 players who predicted “Freddy’s” would open over $75 million domestic, while only seven players had “After Death” taking fourth place. It will be interesting to see if we have any perfect scores this weekend.

I’ve always considered Gold Derby’s Tariq Khan to be a bit of a genius for his Oscar predictions, but he ended up going 6 for 6 in the Oct. 20 game, somehow knowing about the re-release of “Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas,” when even I only learned about it on Saturday.

On Friday, “Priscilla” will expand nationwide with a few other lower-key releases, but there isn’t necessarily much that will shake up the Top 5. Check back on Wednesday for the weekend preview.

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