“Five Nights at Freddy's” raised the box office again. The sequel opened in 3,412 theaters in the U.S. and Canada this weekend and far exceeded expectations with $63 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Seemingly immune to widespread negative reviews, Five Nights at Freddy's 2 was the biggest opening of the weekend after Thanksgiving, which is usually a more subdued smorgasbord of leftovers. It is also the year's biggest opening for a PG-13 film and the second-biggest horror opening behind “The Conjuring: Last Rites.” The films and game tell the story of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, a family restaurant whose anthropomorphic robots become killers at night.
“There was a lot of pessimism and gloom in the industry overall, but this movie helped the industry have its biggest first weekend after Thanksgiving,” said Jim Orr, head of domestic distribution at Universal.
The first film, also produced by Blumhouse, became a surprise hit two years ago. It was worth $80 million in October 2023, even though it can also be streamed on Peacock. Universal decided to open the sequel exclusively in theaters. With a reported production cost of just $36 million, Five Nights at Freddy's 2 is on track for another success. It's another reminder of the potential huge potential of theatrical releases, as many in the industry and beyond wonder what Netflix acquisition from Warner Bros. will mean going to the cinema.
The sequel, written by game creator Scott Cawthon, features the return of actors including Josh Hutcherson, Matthew Lillard and Elizabeth Lail, as well as director Emma Tammy. The reviews were dismal, even worse than the first ones. Mark Kennedy, in his zero-star review for the Associated Press, called it an “incoherent mess.” But horror fans have been known to show up for opening weekend despite the reviews. This audience reacted much more positively. According to a PostTrak survey, 70% of ticket buyers said they would “definitely” recommend Five Nights at Freddy's 2 to their friends.
Paul Dergarabedian, head of market trends at Comscore, said the teen video gamer audience is sometimes underestimated, and this weekend further proves that if you pick the right movie, they'll go to the theater for a shared experience with other fans.
It was also enough to push a more family-friendly “Zootopia 2” to second place in its second weekend in theaters, earning $43 million in North America. But the Disney film will not suffer after its release. record the opening of Thanksgiving. With $219 million from 52 territories worldwide, including China, the global total is a staggering $915.8 million. Walt Disney Studio has officially surpassed $5 billion in worldwide sales – the only studio to do so this year.
“Wicked: For Good” also a universal release, finishing third in its third weekend with $16.8 million from 3,985 theaters, bringing its domestic total to just under $297 million.
Coming in fourth place was Gkids anime Jujutsu Kaisen: Execution with an estimated $10.2 million, while Lionsgate's Now You See Me: Now You Dont rounded out the top five with $3.5 million, bringing its total sales total to $210 million.
Kill Bill: A Bloody Affair was close behind with $3.3 million from 1,198 theaters. Quentin Tarantino combined “Kill Bill: Volume 1” and “Volume 2” into an epic running four hours and 35 minutes (including a 15-minute intermission). The Lionsgate release earned a rare A+ CinemaScore from an audience that was 72% male. According to the studio, most of the 70mm and 35mm screenings were sold out. Due to the demand for films, the studio is considering increasing the production run. Kill Bill star Lucy Liu had a strong weekend at AMC Lincoln Square in New York, where independent drama Rosemead earned $50,243 per screen.
The film version of the Tony Award-winning revival of Merrily We Roll Along, starring Jonathan Groff, Daniel Radcliffe and Lindsay Mendes, released by Sony Pictures Classics, opened just outside the top 10 with $1.2 million from 1,084 screens.
Annual domestic box office revenue topped $8 billion this weekend alone. Since the pandemic, it has topped $9 billion only once, in 2023, when “Barbie” topped the year. Before 2020, it regularly reached $11 billion.
“It's not impossible, but every film will have to beat the numbers somehow if we want to reach the $9 billion threshold,” Dergarabedian said.
Top 10 films by box office in the country
Final internal data will be released Monday, according to Comscore. This list takes into account estimated ticket sales from Friday to Sunday in theaters in the United States and Canada:
1. Five Nights at Freddy's 2, $63 million.
2. Zootopia 2, $43 million.
3. “Wicked: For Good,” $16.7 million.
4. “Jujutsu Kasen: Execution,” $10.2 million.
5. “Now You See Me, Now You Don’t,” $3.5 million.
6. “Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair,” $3.3 million.
7. “Eternity”, $2.7 million,
8. Hamnet, $2.3 million.
9. “Dhurandhar,” $1.9 million.
10. “Predator: Badlands,” $1.9 million.
