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How did Five Nights at Freddy’s exceed all expectations?

Mariano Garcia investigates how a seemingly little dirty movie eventually became Blumhouse's highest-grossing global movie ever, defying all odds

Over its incredible run, Five Nights at Freddy’s (Emma Tammi, 2023) has shattered several significant box office records, which tops the list of new movies to watch at home. Five Nights at Freddy’s exceeded its budget by a factor of 14 at the box office, which was a massive success for Blumhouse, the production firm behind the video game adaption of the same name. In the film Five Nights at Freddy’s, Josh Hutcherson plays Mike, who picks up a nighttime job at a haunted restaurant where the eerie animatronics come to life.

Five Nights at Freddy‘s box office debut on Halloween weekend was fantastic for a horror film. A few obstacles might have prevented the video game adaptation from being a box office hit. Among them was the fact that the performers were prohibited from promoting the movie during the SAG-AFTRA strike, which occurred when it was released. The movie’s same-day streaming debut would have been its second major obstacle. Fortunately, none of those prevented the movie from setting records. With a domestic gross of $136.3 million and a global total of $284.1 million since its premiere, Blumhouse’s box office darling.

It was Halloween weekend, but the movie’s reception was far from assured. The movie made significant money on its first weekend, and Five Nights at Freddy’s film estimates increased by $10 million to match the first day’s earnings. With Thursday night previews included, the film had already generated $39.4 million by Friday. It had made $80 million on its first weekend of release in North America. The highest-grossing horror movie before Five Nights at Freddy’s was Scream VI, with an opening weekend gross of $44.4 million.

Though it was only getting started, Five Nights at Freddy’s had already shattered the records for the most significant horror film in 2023. In addition to that distinction, Five Nights at Freddy’s surpassed a record set for Halloween weekend more than ten years earlier. The video game adaption debuted with a $80 million opening, surpassing the record $34 million opening of Puss in Boots (2011), which debuted on Halloween weekend. Remarkably, the non-horror film maintained this Halloween record centered around a cherished animated character from the Shrek series until Five Nights at Freddy’s.

Not only did Five Nights at Freddy’s break domestic records during its premiere weekend, but it continued its remarkable journey globally, too. The horror movie brought in a total of $52 million from overseas markets in addition to $80 million from North America. It defied The Nun II, the Conjuring spin-off, which made $85.3 million in its debut weekend at the box office globally. With $132 million, it also achieved the biggest global horror opening of 2023.

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Same box-office record

Peacock concurrently released Five Nights at Freddy’s, tying 2021’s Black Widow for the largest opening ever for a simultaneous streaming release at $80 million. Although the movie’s streaming availability may have hurt the box office, it became the most-watched movie on the Peacock service and drove the enormous subscriber push. Notably, Five Nights at Freddy’s outperformed The Super Mario Bros. Movie on streaming, which is no small accomplishment.

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A movie from two decades ago was surpassed

The fact that Five Nights at Freddy’s is rated PG-13 for horror films was one of its advantages. Because of this, the film was more widely accessible, and younger fans of the franchise were able to attend. This meant that The Mummy Returns, a PG-13 horror movie from 2001, which had debuted with $68 million, had been surpassed by Five Nights at Freddy’s $80 million opening weekend.

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Blumhouse’s highest-grossing release globally

Since the early 2000s, Blumhouse has been making films, and among its many successful horror franchises are Paranormal Activity, Insidious, The Purge, and many more. One of them, Five Nights at Freddy’s, made $284.1 million at the time of release, making it Blumhouse’s highest-grossing global movie ever. Additionally, it was the 19th Blumhouse film to top the US box office. Five Nights at Freddy’s brings Blumhouse’s domestic box office total to over $3 billion, solidifying the company’s position as a behemoth in the horror industry. This is just another noteworthy aspect of Blumhouse.

The movie was still a hit when it was shown in theatres, even with the negative reviews for Five Nights at Freddy’s online. Considering that this is a “new” brand for moviegoers, this is no small feat for the video game movie, which made the top spot on the list of new movies to watch at home. That’s a huge sign of how well-liked the film is and how well its intended audience connected with Five Nights at Freddy’s.


By Mariano Garcia - 21-12-2023

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