Universal and Blumhouse's funhouse thriller Five Nights at Freddy's surpassed expectations with its impressive $80 million domestic debut over Halloween weekend. This is an outstanding result, especially considering the movie was simultaneously available on Peacock, the streaming service owned by NBCUniversal. This result ties the record for the best opening weekend for a day and date streaming release with Disney's 2021 Marvel adventure Black Widow, which earned $80 million in theaters and $60 million on Disney. It is also the best ever for Universal and Peacock's hybrid releases, surpassing the slasher sequels Halloween Kills ($49 million) and Halloween Ends ($40 million).
Going into the weekend, Five Nights at Freddy's was predicted to earn at least $50 million, which would have been a great start for the genre. However, it ended up being the biggest horror debut of the year, beating the openings of more recognizable franchises like Scream VI ($44.4 million) and The Nun II ($32 million). This movie also achieved the second biggest opening weekend for a video game adaptation, second only to The Super Mario Bros Movie ($146.3 million). The IP is very popular, and Blumhouse and director Emma Tammi did a great job of translating it to the big screen, according to Universal's president of domestic distribution Jim Orr.
Five Nights at Freddy's also earned $52 million at the international box office, bringing its global tally to $132 million. This is the biggest global opening of the year for a horror film, surpassing the starts of The Nun II ($88.1 million globally) and Blumhouse's previous record holder Halloween ($91.8 million globally). Jason Blum, the founder of Blumhouse, expressed his joy with the movie's success, and thanked everyone for being patient with him. This movie is not only a victory for Universal and Blumhouse, but also a significant boost for movie theaters, which have been suffering due to the SAG strike.
The success of Five Nights at Freddy's is notable because it shows how horror movies can still do well even without actors being able to promote their projects. This type of release does not need red carpets or cast appearances and interviews, according to David A Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research. However, this is not the case for star-driven films like Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon, which dropped by a steep 61% in its second weekend of release, earning $9 million from 3,632 venues. Killers of the Flower Moon, which is produced by Apple and distributed by Paramount Pictures, needs to have lasting power to justify its $200 million price tag.
