Bold opening: A haunted box office win proves bad reviews can’t scare away a crowd. And this one turned heads with a record-breaking weekend.
Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 detonated onto the scene, expanding to 3,412 theaters across the U.S. and Canada and delivering a staggering $63 million in ticket sales from studio estimates released on Sunday. Despite widespread negativity from critics, the horror sequel drew a much larger audience than expected and marked the biggest opening weekend after Thanksgiving in history. It also claims the top spot for a PG-13 release of the year and sits as the second-largest horror opening, trailing only The Conjuring: Last Rites. The film centers on Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, a family restaurant where animatronic characters turn deadly by night.
Industry insiders note a shift in perception: "There’s been a lot of doom and gloom about the industry overall, but this movie helped drive the industry to the biggest first weekend post-Thanksgiving ever," said Jim Orr, head of domestic distribution for Universal.
The original film, produced by Blumhouse, surprised many two years ago by opening at $80 million in October 2023 even though it was available to stream on Peacock. Universal chose to release the sequel exclusively in theaters. With an estimated production budget of around $36 million, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is on track to be another major success and underscores the potential upside of theatrical releases as debates heat up about Netflix’s impact on moviegoing and what it might mean for traditional cinema.
The sequel features the return of cast members such as Josh Hutcherson, Matthew Lillard, and Elizabeth Lail, along with director Emma Tammi, with the story penned by game creator Scott Cawthon. While critical reviews were tepid—AP’s Mark Kennedy gave it a zero-star label calling it an “incoherent mess”—horror fans responded enthusiastically. PostTrak data showed about 70% of ticket buyers said they would definitely recommend the film to friends.
Industry observer Paul Dergarabedian of Comscore emphasized the underappreciated appeal of teen gamers who crave a shared theatrical experience with fellow fans. This weekend’s results even nudged family-friendly fare Zootopia 2 into second place, earning around $43 million in its second weekend. Zootopia 2 has still performed strongly overall, with a global total surpassing $915 million across 52 territories and contributing to Disney’s year surpassing the $5 billion mark in worldwide releases.
Wicked: For Good, another Universal title, landed in third place in its third weekend with about $16.8 million across 3,985 theaters, bringing its domestic tally just under $297 million. Rounding out the top five, Jujutsu Kaisen: Execution opened with roughly $10.2 million from Japanese anime studio-driven distribution, while Now You See Me: Now You Don’t brought in about $3.5 million. The Tarantino-infused Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair added approximately $3.3 million from 1,198 theaters in a rare extended run, aided by a near-total sellout of 70mm and 35mm screenings and an A+ CinemaScore from a predominantly male audience.
Other notable entries included a limited but notable performance from the filmed revival Merrily We Roll Along, and the broader industry’s weekend box office helped push the domestic figure for the year back toward the $8 billion mark. Experts note that reaching $9 billion in annual global box office remains challenging and would require multiple films to overperform, despite a strong post-Thanksgiving showing.
Top 10 Domestic Box Office (Friday–Sunday estimates, U.S. & Canada)
1. Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 — $63 million
2. Zootopia 2 — $43 million
3. Wicked: For Good — $16.7 million
4. Jujutsu Kaisen: Execution — $10.2 million
5. Now You See Me: Now You Don’t — $3.5 million
6. Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair — $3.3 million
7. Eternity — $2.7 million
8. Hamnet — $2.3 million
9. Dhurandhar — $1.9 million
10. Predator: Badlands — $1.9 million
What this means: a savvy theatrical strategy, combined with a dedicated audience and a bit of controversy, can override negative press and still deliver blockbuster returns. The debate about streaming versus cinema, and how much a franchise’s fan base can carry a film, remains ongoing. What’s your take: do you think fear-based horror can reliably drive big opening weekends, or do you see this as a special-case rarity? Would you choose to see Freddy’s sequel in theaters or stream it at home, and why?
