All opening weekend entries

“Five Nights at Freddy’s,” Universal and Blumhouse’s horror video game adaptation, grossed $78 million in North America and $130 million worldwide in its box office debut.

For a $20 million-budget horror film landing simultaneously on streaming (in this case, NBCUniversal-owned service Peacock), these ticket sales would have been significant. Conclusion Its dramatic flow. In just three days of release, “Five Nights at Freddy’s” has already eclipsed 2022’s “Halloween Ends” ($104 million) and will soon surpass 2021’s “Halloween Kills” ($133 million). Hybrid releases from Universal and Peacock. And unlike “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” those slasher sequels come from time-tested movie franchises.

“Every studio needs to take note. It could be a game-changer and another clear blueprint for event-level horror films [and] game adaptations,” says Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at Boxoffice Pro, pointing to the communal appeal of horror films. “‘FNAF’ has become a cult classic over the past decade with young and passionate fans, representing a key segment of the next generation of moviegoers.”

Josh Hutcherson stars in the horror film, which follows a night guard at a family entertainment center called Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. But these animatronic symbols are prone to murder. A film version of “Five Nights at Freddy’s” has been in the works since 2015, but Jason Blum’s company, Blumhouse, has finally cracked the code. Box office analysts believe the PG-13 rating and prime Halloween release date also worked in his favor.

“It’s a lot of fun while it’s working.” Blum wrote in X, formerly known as Twitter. “Thank you very much for your patience with us during our five nights at Fiveredies.” We wanted to get it right for the fans. That’s all we focused on.

Unlike unimpressed critics (it has a 25% on Rotten Tomatoes) audiences have responded enthusiastically to the film (it earned an A-cinema score). However, that kind of inconsistency doesn’t usually matter to the horror genre. Word of mouth can prevent the second-weekend slump that usually plagues horror movies. But in any case, “Five Nights at Freddy’s” already trails “The Nun II” ($85 million), “M3GAN” ($95 million) and “Scream VI” ($108 million) as the top-grossing horror films. year.

In addition to its box office fortunes, “Five Nights at Freddy’s” is from the Peacock, Oct. It has been the most watched and biggest subscription drive ever since it dropped on 26. However, Peacock has far fewer subscribers than rivals like Disney+ and Netflix. The streamer doesn’t provide metrics to back up these accolades.

Some analysts believe hybrid issuance leaves money on the table. “The premium experience of watching a horror movie is shoulder to shoulder, jumping, gasping and laughing with strangers in a dark room,” says David A. Cross says. “Audiences watching it at home this weekend won’t have that experience, and their ticket sales will be lost.”

“Five Nights at Freddy’s” doesn’t seem to be stopping more fans from buying tickets. Here are all the box office records set by “Five Nights at Freddy’s” in its opening weekend, according to Universal:

Domestic

International

Universal