Blumhouse scored a massive hit with its live-action adaptation of the nine-year-old video game Five Nights at Freddy’s. The horror flick had one of the best openings ever and smashed early box office predictions.
Five Nights at Freddy’s had a historic release as it opened with $78 million in the US domestic market. This is a massive feat for a film that premiered simultaneously in theaters and on the streaming service, Peacock. In particular, the horror film made out with a huge haul on Friday with $39.5 million, which includes the $10.3 million from Thursday advance screenings.
The movie smashed the initial projection of $50 million during its opening weekend. Friday Nights at Freddy’s is now the third biggest horror movie opening of all time behind New Line Cinema’s It and It Chapter Two. The film also has the second-biggest opening of all time for a video game adaptation behind The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
Five Nights at Freddy’s isn’t only performing well domestically but is also making a significant impact internationally. With an estimated international gross of $52.6 million, the film is poised to achieve a remarkable global debut of up to $130 million. This places the Blumhouse production in a favorable position to surpass New Line’s The Nun II and claim the title of the year’s biggest opening for a horror film.
The film has outpaced Halloween’s impressive $76.2 million debut in 2018, making it the largest domestic opening in Blumhouse’s history. Moreover, it stands as Blumhouse’s most successful global launch to date. Notably, Freddy’s achievement also dethrones The Mummy Returns ($68.1 million) as the highest-grossing opening for a PG-13-rated horror film.
Director Emma Tammi’s decision to go for a PG-13 movie instead of an R-18 flick has undoubtedly paid off. The inclusion of audiences from 13-17 contributed to the movie’s strong Friday night earnings. The movie toned down on the gore to make the film appeal to a younger crowd.
“We were trying to push Five Nights at Freddy’s as far as we could while still retaining that PG-13 rating. ” Tammi explained. “That meant the kills needed to be executed in a certain way. While it is fun in many slasher films to see all the guts and gore, it is also really enjoyable to figure out creative ways to show these moments without revealing all the details.”
Universal’s play to release Five Nights at Freddy’s simultaneously in theaters and on Peacock did not seem to hurt the movie’s overall performance during its launch. This may boil down to Peacock’s reach as only 23% of moviegoers who watched the movie in theaters are subscribed to the streaming service. Bigger streaming platforms like Netflix or Disney+ will find it to replicate Freddy’s simultaneous release earnings.
Five Nights at Freddy’s is expected to hold on to the top spot in next weekend’s box office charts thanks to Dune: Part Two being pushed back.
