Universal/Blumhouse’s big screen version of nine-year-old videogame Five Nights at Freddy’s has hit an unprecedented $78M opening, $4.4M shy of what Uni wowed with earlier this summer in firing up Oppenheimer ($82.4M).
Rivals are spotting $80M. Some in the business, including exhibition, will argue that they saw this tidal wave coming, that they saw big numbers right in front of them — and you were right. Yet, while presales indicated a huge hit, the whole Peacock day-and-date of it all, which wound up knocking out projections on Halloween Ends a year ago (projected at $50M+, came in at $40M), was the swing factor here.
Whenever you have day-and-date, you’re also cutting off your repeat business in theaters. Interesting to note here that while Freddy’s box office start is the best for a Peacock day-and-date, beating Halloween Kills ($49.4M), it’s near the opening of Marvel Studios’ Disney+ day-and-date (even though subs were charged an extra $25) of Black Widow ($80.3M). That movie fell -68% in weekend 2 and made its way to $183.6M, a 2.2x multiple off its opening. Some are seeing Freddy’s journey ending at around $130M+.
A recap on revised records for Freddy’s:
–At $130.6M worldwide, Freddy‘s is the biggest horror WW bow YTD ahead of Nun II ($88.1M) and biggest Blumhouse global debut of all-time ahead of Halloween ($91.8M).
–Stateside, box office analytics corp EntTelligence says, Freddy’s clocked 6M admissions over three days–the most ever for a horror movie monitored by the stat org since their post-pandemic launch.
–Biggest opening weekend for a horror pic YTD, besting Scream VI ($44.4M)
–Second-biggest opening ever for a video game pic, behind Super Mario Bros ($146.3M) and ahead of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 ($72M)
–The biggest Blumhouse opening ever, ahead of 2018’s Halloween ($76.2M)
–Highest opening for a Halloween weekend movie, beating Puss in Boots ($34M)
–It’s also the 19th time a Blumhouse movie has bowed at the No. 1 spot, and will bring the genre label’s domestic box office to more than $3 billion.
–Second-biggest theatrical day-and-date debut, after Disney+’s Black Widow ($80.3M).
–The third-largest debut for any horror film ahead of Halloween ($76.222M) and behind only IT ($$123.403M) and IT Chapter Two ($91.062M)
–The highest opening for any PG-13 horror film, surpassing The Mummy Returns ($68.139M)
–The biggest opening weekend for a horror film directed by a woman, ahead of Candyman ($22.002M)
Beamed Universal Domestic Distribution Boss Jim Orr, “Blumhouse and director Emma Tammi successfully delivered a terrifying, exceptionally gratifying cinematic experience that remains faithful to Scott Cawthon’s incredibly popular video game. The phenomenal domestic and global opening weekend of Five Nights At Freddy’s serves as yet another example of our ability to capture the cultural zeitgeist.“
Saturday for Freddy‘s came in at $24.2M to Friday’s $39.7M, a -39% decline, similar to the frontloadeness of the YA-skewing Twilight.
EntTelligence says 65% of the foot traffic this weekend at the box office went to Freddy‘s, with an average ticket price of $12.93. The PG-13 horror movie had a very strong afternoon, which is atypical next to other horror movies. Ten percent of the audience came before 1PM yesterday, 33% between 1PM-5PM, 34% between 5PM-8PM and 23% after 8PM. Best admissions for the pic were in LA (8.9%), NYC (5.8%), Dallas (3.5%), Chicago (3.3%) and Houston (2.8%).
What happens next weekend? Freddy‘s holds No. 1 thanks to Dune: Part Two being off the schedule. Is it a -60% drop? 70%- drop? That’s the questions. Only notable title going wide next weekend is Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla, which came in at $132,1K at four theaters in NYC and L.A. or $33K per theater with four sold-out Q&As in New York.
Chart:
1.) Five Nights at Freddy’s (Uni) 3,675 theaters, Fri $39.4M, $24.25M Sun $14M 3-day $78M/Wk 1
2.) Taylor Swift: Eras Tour (AMC) 3,773 (-82) theaters, Fri $4.8M (-53%), Sat $5.8M Sun $4.1M 3-day $14.7M (-56%)/Total $149.3M/ Wk 3
3.) Killers of the Flower Moon (Apple/Par) 3,632 (+4) theaters Fri $2.67M (-72%), Sat $3.7M Sun $2.6M 3-day $9M (-60%)/Total $40.6M/Wk 2
That’s steeper than anticipated for Killers of the Flower Moon, no doubt that 3 1/2 running time being a factor despite the A- CinemaScore, which is one of Scorsese’s best. While the 3-hour Oppenheimer eased -43% in weekend 2, that is arguably a faster-paced film. Imax repped $1.1M this past weekend for a $5.3M running total. With the holidays and awards push of it all, some fell a $60M domestic endgame is in store here for Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro combo; their third movie together after 1996’s Marvin’s Room and 1993’s This Boy’s Life.
4.) After Death (Angel) 2,605 theaters Fri $2.1M, Sat $1.58M Sun $1.27M 3-day $5.06M/Wk 1
5.) Exorcist: The Believer (Uni) 2,717 (-606) theaters Fri $1M (-40%) Sat $1.3M Sun $750K 3-day $3.1M (-46%) Total $59.3M/Wk 4
6.) Paw Patrol 2 (Par) 2,746 (-618) theaters, Fri $540K (-52%) Sat $970K Sun $640K 3-day $2.15M (-51%) Total $59.2M/Wk 5
7.) Freelance (Relativity) 2,057 theaters, Fri $880K,Sat $705K Sun $475K 3-day $2.06M/Wk 1
8.) Nightmare Before Christmas (re) (Dis) 2,185 (+535) theaters, Fri $583K (-60%) Sat $821K Sun $596K 3-day $2M (-52%)/Total lifetime $85.8M /Wk 2 of re-release
9.) Saw X (LG) 2,141 (-615) theaters, Fri $537K Sat $705K Sun $443K 3-day $1.68M (-53%) Total $50.2M/Wk 5
10.) The Creator (New Reg/20th) 1,685 theaters (-805), Fri $300K (-60%) Sat $431K Sun $269K 3-day $1M (-63%), Total $38.8M/Wk 5
Other:
The Holdovers (Foc) 6 theaters Fri $92K Sat $62K Sun $46K $33K PTA/3-day $200K/Wk 1