‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ Holds off Swift & Scorsese

While Taylor Swift is still in the top three at the domestic box office, her old beau Harry Styles probably said it best when it comes to comparing to last weekend: as it was. The top three positions remain the same as Five Nights at Freddy’s holds onto the top spot despite an eye-watering 76% drop from its record-breaking opening bow in a quiet weekend that was more about consolidation than celebration. Swift’s The Eras Tour concert film, which is only playing around weekends right now, remains in second, while Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon is tucked in just behind.

Five Nights at Freddy’s, a viral sensation/meme/something that’s gone totally over your head if you’re above a certain age, saw its overall domestic gross climb to $113.6 million in its second weekend, crossing that $100 million threshold. With its demented story of a weary night watchman who finds himself in a Night at the Museum-esque Chuck E. Cheese clone being terrorized by sinister animatronics, it certainly captured the imagination of its younger audience — if not the critics who have been calling the adaptation one of the worst films of the year.

Critical acclaim has not been hard to find for the films in second and third place, though. The NFL’s newest star, Miss Americana herself continues to rake in the cash that comes with her devoted fan base, as The Eras Tour — armed with its flawless Rotten Tomatoes score at 99% and an A+ CinemaScore — saw a tiny 13% drop to take in another $13.5 million, bringing its total domestic gross to $165.9 million. In third place, Scorsese’s Western epic Killers of the Flower Moon is not likely to be profitable in theatres, but it was never intended to be, with Apple intending to make the lengthy drama a major selling point for Apple TV+. The movie stars Lily Gladstone, Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, and Jesse Plemons and revolves around the greed-driven murders in the Osage Nation during the 1920s. Opening in another 154 theatres to its ranks, the film notched up another $6.8 million.

Weekend Box Office Round-Up Sees Wins for ‘Priscilla,’ ‘Oppenheimer,’ and More

Expanding on its limited theatrical release from last week, Sofia Coppola‘s Priscilla opened wide-ish, by adding 1,355 screens and bringing in $5 million. That equated to a $3,741 per theatre average which was actually higher than The Eras Tour. The Exorcist: Believer is also continuing to haunt theaters, although the mooted “Exorswift” double bill never really caught fire. Nor did “Saw Patrol”, although at least the combined box office totals of Saw X and PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie are a little bit more equitable at $52.4 million and $62 million respectively. The weekend also saw the return of Oppenheimer to theaters — in IMAX form — adding another $510,000 to its tally which also took it above $184 million at the global box office for the premium format, as well as $947.5 million total.

As for next weekend, that’s where things get interesting. The Marvels is a certainty to debut at number one — but how will it fare? The projections for the film are not looking great right now. It’s been a rough year — Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 excepted — for Disney and Marvel so far at the box office. With promotion for the movie being basically impossible while the AMPTP refuses to offer the still striking SAG-AFTRA a fair deal, how far can pop-up ads in multiplexes and posters on the sides of buses take a $200 million blockbuster? We’ll find out.

Five Nights at Freddy’s is available to stream on Peacock.

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Five Nights at Freddy’s

Can you survive five nights? The terrifying horror game phenomenon becomes a blood-chilling cinematic event, as Blumhouse — the producer of M3GAN, The Black Phone, and The Invisible Man — brings Five Nights at Freddy’s to the big screen. The film follows a troubled security guard as he begins working at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. While spending his first night on the job, he realizes the night shift at Freddy’s won’t be so easy to make it through.

Release Date

October 27, 2023

Director

Emma Tammi

Cast

Josh Hutcherson, Matthew Lillard, Elizabeth Lail, Mary Stuart Masterson

Rating

PG-13

Runtime

110 minutes

Genres

Horror