Five Nights At Freddy's Just Achieved What Only A Marvel Movie Has Before
Blumhouse Productions' "Five Nights at Freddy's" is giving Marvel Studios a run for its money.
Ever since Scott Cawthon debuted the first "Five Nights at Freddy's" video game in 2014, Hollywood had been circling the multimedia franchise, hoping to turn the horror series into a cash cow. And after this weekend's box office receipts, it's clear that "Five Nights at Freddy's" is going to stay relevant for a very long time. The flick managed to rake in $80 million at the domestic box office during its debut weekend, emerging as Blumhouse's biggest opening ever. The film beat initial weekend estimates — Deadline had the film at $78 million, though early projections suggested a conservative opening of $50 million. Even more exciting, "Freddy's" was already profitable prior to its release, thanks to streaming and theatrical distribution sales.
What makes these opening weekend numbers all the more impressive is how distributor Universal Pictures gave the pic a day-and-date release on Peacock. Despite being available on the platform with a subscription, fans showed up in droves to support Freddy's silver screen debut. And thanks to a stellar fan turnout, "Five Nights at Freddy's" is matching the opening of Marvel Studios' "Black Widow," which debuted in 2021 to an $80 million haul — all while being available for purchase on Disney+.
The Scarlett Johansson-led flick was available on the platform for $30 USD and, until now, had the biggest day-and-date theatrical and streaming debut for any film. Now, Marvel Studios and Blumhouse Productions are tied for that honor, signaling a positive trend for hybrid releases.
Five Nights at Freddy's is a winner for Universal
Globally, "Five Nights at Freddy's" has grossed over $132 million worldwide, putting it on track to be one of the most profitable horror films of the year. The film also boasts the second-highest debut for a video game pic, failing to match the $146 million record that this year's "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" brought home for Universal. While it remains to be seen what the future holds for "Five Nights at Freddy's," the film is a major success for Universal. It also helps that "Freddy's," which was produced on a reported budget of $20 million, is making the same amount of waves as Marvel Studios' "Black Widow."
While it remains to be seen if "Freddy's" is popular on Peacock — Universal hasn't released viewership data yet — it speaks volumes that a PG-13 horror pic based on a cult video game is standing toe-to-toe with one of Marvel's films. "Black Widow" ultimately ended its domestic run with a $183 million haul — one of the lower hauls the billion-dollar franchise has dealt with. Disney, however, revealed that the Marvel film made more than $60 million from Disney+ Premier Access.
Now, all eyes are on the future of "Five Nights at Freddy's." While Disney had the excuse of debuting "Black Widow" on Disney+ due to COVID-19, Blumhouse and Universal simply released the video game flick on Peacock to increase its reach. It's difficult to not wonder how much money Universal left on the table by running with a hybrid release. Deadline says that the horror outing only missed out on $5 to $10 million thanks to the streaming stunt — a small price to pay for a boost in streaming numbers.