Five Nights at Freddy’s made swift work of a certain concert film, cruising to a resounding win during this weekend’s box office tourney. The PG-13 horror flick earned an estimated $78 million in North America–more than quintuple the earnings of Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour.
That haul would be pretty eye-popping no matter what: Five Nights set a number of records en route to its win, including boasting the third-biggest horror movie debut (behind Itand It: Chapter Two) and second-biggest debut for a movie based on a video game (behind this year’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie). But the movie’s earnings are even more remarkable given that it simultaneously premiered on the Peacock streaming service. Moviegoers could’ve easily been movie-stayers. Instead, fans of the fledgling Freddy’s franchise flocked to theaters for their Chuck E. Cheese-channeling chills.
Five Nights proved to be a terror overseas as well, collecting another $52.6 million internationally. That makes for a $130.6 million global haul. Not bad for a film that reportedly cost just $20 million to make. What might its creators do with the extra cash? I’d recommend opening a pizza joint or two.
After two weeks at the top of the charts, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour slipped to No. 2—an unfamiliar spot for the ubiquitous pop star. But mourn not, Swifties: Taylor can assuage the pain of her unaccustomed loss with the $14.7 million her film earned this weekend. The Eras Tour has now earned $149.3 million stateside, and it continues to pad its totals as the biggest concert movie ever.
Killers of the Flower Moon continues to shine in theaters as well. It earned $9 million in North America this weekend, pushing its overall gross to $40.7 million.
Angel Studios—the outfit behind Sound of Freedom—continues to find paydirt with its wide-release efforts as well. The studio’s latest, After Death, was rather lively, all things considered. The documentary earned nearly $5.1 million to land in fourth place.
The Exorcist: Believer closed out the top five with a $3.1 million weekend.
Freelance, the weekend’s third wide-release newbie, mustered just $2.1 million to finish seventh.
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For anyone who’s curious, Plugged In mentioned “Five Nights” creator Scott Cawthon’s somewhat troubling (“God is going to have to work even harder to break you”) but otherwise fascinating interview with Geeks Under Grace, in this website’s review of “Five Nights at Freddy’s 3.” Here is the interview, well worth reading even if you disagree with his theology (or his games). https://www.geeksundergrace.com/gaming/developer-spotlight-scott-cawthon/
“Instead, the events of my life led me to a great idea for a horror game- Five Nights at Freddy’s.” Context: Commentator Jim Sterling insulted Cawthon’s uncanny-valley art style in the latter’s earlier video games; Cawthon learned from this criticism, leveraged it into a genre where “creepy-looking characters” is a desired asset, and became very financially successful from it.