Five Nights at Freddy’s Movie’s Leads One of 2023’s Weakest Box Office Weekends

The Five Nights at Freddy’s remains atop the charts as the box office nearly bottoms out for the year with with Dune 2. The second part of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune adaptation would have hit theaters this weekend if not for a delay caused by the various strikes hitting the Hollywood film industry throughout 2023. Collectively, all films at the box office will earn just over $58 million for the third-smallest overall weekend gross at the box office this year. Instead, the Blumhouse-produced adaptation of the Five Nights at Freddy’s video game franchise will win its second box office weekend with a haul estimated at $17.8 million, bringing its total to $112 million. The , where it is setting records for NBCUniversal’s streaming platform. 

The Five Nights at Freddy’s movie’s success comes despite the film receiving a negative reaction from critics. ComicBook.com’s Megan Peters awarded the movie only 2.5 stars out of a possible 5 in her review. She writes:

“Since the release of Five Nights at Freddy’s nearly a decade ago, the franchise has become a giant with horror lovers. This means expectations for its movie adaptation were high, and sadly, Five Nights at Freddy’s did not meet them. The film’s sanitized scares strips the franchise of its legendary tension. When paired with its muddled story, the only thing that kept Five Nights at Freddy’s afloat for me was its filmography and Easter eggs. Even with its flaws, the film will likely impress young fans who’ve yet to develop a tolerance for horror. But, as for older fans, well – they will have no problem surviving their visit to Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza.”

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour will remain in second place for another weekend. Exhibitors are likely hoping that next week’s release of Marvel Studios’ The Marvels will help bring audiences back to theaters, and it’ll certainly help, but the tracking is suggesting it’ll be one of the MCU’s more muted debuts. The list of the top 10 films at the box office this weekend is in the works.