Universal and Blumhouse’s haunted horror film Five Nights at Freddy’s looks to make a killing in its box office debut.
This video game adaptation is anticipated to rake in a minimum of $50 million during its opening weekend. Experts suggest that the final tally could surpass this impressive figure. Five Nights at Freddy’s will open simultaneously on Peacock, which makes it especially impressive that it’s projected to land one of the biggest horror debuts of the year.
The Blumhouse movie is on track to claim one of the most significant horror debuts of the year. To put things into perspective, the top horror debuts in 2023 so far include Scream VI ($44.4 million), The Nun II ($32 million), M3GAN ($30 million), and The Exorcist: Believer ($26.4 million).
While Five Nights stands out in this regard, other studios are revisiting exclusive theatrical releases due to their profitability when compared to hybrid strategies. With a production budget of $20 million, Five Nights at Freddy’s doesn’t have an exceedingly high bar to cross to achieve financial success.
Peacock, while not as robust in terms of subscribers as Disney+ or Netflix, could still see a short-lived boost in its box office performance due to the day-and-date release of Five Nights at Freddy’s. A similar pattern emerged with Universal’s 2022 slasher sequel Halloween Ends.
According to Variety, with not many other big movies around, Five Nights at Freddy’s is all set to be the top movie in theaters this fall. It’s like the king of the box office right now. The only other movies trying to compete are Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour, which might make around $13-15 million, and Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, expected to bring in $11-13 million this weekend. So, Five Nights at Freddy’s is definitely the one to watch this season.
