Blumhouse always had high hopes for Emma Tammi’s videogame horror, but Five Nights At Freddy’s blew everyone away with its stellar opening weekend.
It’s been a good weekend for Jason Blum. His horror production house, appropriately named Blumhouse, went all-in on video game franchise Five Nights At Freddy’s and released the film simultaneously in cinemas worldwide and on streaming service Peacock in the US.
And it’s official. We did something else. Biggest Blumhouse opening movie of all time. Thank you again #FNAF fans.
— Jason Blum (@jason_blum) October 29, 2023
It was a gamble for sure; the day-and-date release seemed like a thing of the (not too distant) past, but it turned out to be a huge success.
Five Nights At Freddy’s grossed an incredible $130m globally, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter. $78m of that came from the US. Blum took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to celebrate and noted that Five Nights At Freddy’s opening weekend was the highest grossing opening for Blumhouse in general and also the highest grossing opening for any horror film directed by a woman, according to Blum.
Congrats to our director Emma Tammi. #FNAF marks the biggest opening weekend for a horror film directed by a woman. https://t.co/DqwJ4yuhHc
— Jason Blum (@jason_blum) October 28, 2023
It’s worth noting here that Five Nights At Freddy’s had a measly $20m budget, which is basically pocket money for Blumhouse. The studio’s getting quite a nice return on its investment, then, proving that, financially at least, this was a title worth backing. No sequel has been officially announced, but it seems almost inevitable at this point, especially considering how much lore there is to explore within the franchise.
Read More: Should Five Nights At Freddy’s have had a lower age rating?
The film’s box office returns are also impressive considering the reviews were largely abysmal. We called it “toothless” in our review – but then again, perhaps we’re not quite the target audience.
Five Nights At Freddy’s was also the second biggest videogame opening ever, only trailing behind The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which grossed an impressive £146m. Horror films have always made a nice wad of cash for studios, but to really put Five Nights At Freddy’s success into context, the only two horror films with bigger opening weekends are Andy Muschietti’s It and It Chapter 2.
You can catch Five Nights At Freddy’s in cinemas now.
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