Oct. 31, 2023

Five Nights at Freddy’s Slashed its way to the Top

Universal and Blumhouse’s funhouse horror film Five Nights at Freddy’s exceeds box-office expectations, achieving US$78 million domestically and around US$130 million around the world, over the Halloween weekend. By: Dylan Low

The thrilling game-turned-film has already accomplished spectacular ticket sales, as it was broadcasted simultaneously on Peacock, NBC Universal’s very own streaming service. It has attained the second-best weekend debut for a day-to-date streaming release, topping Disney’s Black Widow (US$80 million in theatres, US$60 million on Disney+). It is the leading Universal and Peacock’s production, outshining Halloween Kills (US$49 million) and Halloween Ends (US$40 million).

Five Nights at Freddy’s was expected to hit a minimum of US$50 million going into the weekend. It now leads as the best horror debut of 2023, surpassing notable franchises like Scream VI (US$44.4 million) and The Nun II (US$40 million). It obtained the second highest opening weekend for a video game adaptation, behind The Super Mario Bros movie with US$146.3 million.

The trending  horror film has also made waves outside the country, achieving an extra US$52 million at their international box office and totalling at $130 million. It is currently 2023’s biggest global debut for a horror film and Blumhouse’s biggest debut in their history, above Halloween with US$91.8 million global revenue. 

Blumhouse CEO Jason Blum tweeted on X, “It’s so fun when it works. Thank you all so much for being patient with us on Five Nights at Freddy’s. We wanted to get it just right for the fans. And it’s official. Biggest Blumhouse opening movie of all time.”

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