“Five Nights at Freddy’s” flopped at the box office, but still managed to come out on top. Universal and Blumhouse’s fall sleeper hit grossed $19.4 million in its sophomore outing, resulting in a massive 76% drop from its debut.
A spooky video game adaptation from Universal and Blumhouse, it features a haunted Chuck E. Taking place in the cheese-esque company, it has grossed $113 million to date. Despite the dramatic drop, “Five Nights at Freddy’s” earned So far An $80 million opening weekend was more than anyone expected. So second-weekend ticket sales are still good for the $20 million-budgeted film, which landed simultaneously on streaming service Peacock.
Although Peacock has fewer subscribers than rivals like Disney and Netflix, box office analysts say the day-and-date digital release is behind the biggest decline in ticket sales. Even so, “Five Nights at Freddy’s” was a huge commercial hit. After 10 days of release, it’s already the highest-grossing horror film of the year, surpassing “The Nun II” ($85 million), “M3GAN” ($95 million) and “Scream VI” ($108 million).
“‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ flops in its second weekend in simultaneous streaming,” said David A., who runs film consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research. Cross says. “Both viewing options compete with each other. An exclusive theatrical run generates the largest gross box office, then boosts the film and creates anticipation for the streaming premiere that follows.
An otherwise quiet weekend at the box office saw two new releases — Meg Ryan’s romantic comedy “What Happens Later” and Neil Burger’s psychological thriller “The Marsh King’s Daughter” — fail to crack the top five. The overall domestic box office grossed around $59 million over the weekend, one of the lowest grosses of the year.
“What Happens Later,” starring Ryan and David Duchovny as an ex-couple who accidentally reunite at an airport, debuted at No. 9 with $1.5 million from 1,492 theaters. Even worse was “The Marsh King’s Daughter,” starring Daisy Ridley as a smuggler’s daughter who escapes from prison. The Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions film opened at No. 12 with $820,000 from 1,055 locations.
With no major newcomers, “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” held on for second place, grossing $13.5 million in its fourth weekend. It grossed $166 million in North America, solidifying its position as the highest-grossing concert film in domestic box office history. “The Eras Tour” broke that record with $92 million in its opening weekend, surpassing the domestic total of 2011’s Justin Bieber: Never Say Never ($72 million).
In third place, Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” added $7 million from 3,786 theaters, down 25% from the previous weekend. Ticket sales for the crime epic starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro must continue to have box office staying power to justify its $200 million budget. To date, “Flower Moon” has grossed $52 million domestically and $100 million worldwide after three weeks of release. However, Apple, which backed the big-budget tentpole and hired Paramount to put it in theaters, didn’t have the same metrics of success compared to traditional Hollywood players. It’s betting that season focus and Apple TV+ fodder will help check the price tag.
Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla Presley biopic “Priscilla” finished fourth, earning $5 million more than expected, expanding the A24 film to 1,259 theaters. The well-reviewed film grossed $132,139 from four screens in limited release and has grossed $5.3 million to date. “Priscilla,” an awards-season hopeful, is a very different take from Baz Luhrmann’s 2022 kaleidoscopic biopic, “Elvis.”
“[Romantic dramas] Not big movies, but they play when they’re connected,” Cross says. “That can still happen here.”
Rounding out the top five was Pantelion’s “Radical,” while Universal’s “The Exorcist: Believer” dropped to sixth. The Spanish-language film, starring Eugenio Derbez, earned $2.7 million in its opening weekend from 419 locations.
