Zootopia 2 vs. Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 Box Office Showdown Has Surprising Winner

After one of the worst Octobers in recent memory, the box office got a much-needed boost in November thanks to the releases of Wicked: For Good and Zootopia 2, both of which posted strong debuts during their respective opening weekends. As those titles dominated the Thanksgiving frame, many people probably expected this year to be a repeat of last year, when Wicked and Moana 2 were the top two films for multiple consecutive weekends before giving way to Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Mufasa: The Lion King over Christmas. The post-Thanksgiving weekend is typically a quieter time at the box office, but that wasn’t the case this year with the arrival of Five Nights at Freddy’s 2.

According to Variety, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 pulled off the surprise win at the box office this weekend by raking in $63 million domestically, a significant improvement over its modest $35-40 million projections. While that figure is a step down from the impressive $80 million debut of the first Five Nights at Freddy’s, this is still a massive win for Blumhouse Productions. Freddy’s 2 had a budget of just $36 million, so the video game adaptation will turn a profit.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 easily beat Zootopia 2, which posted $43 million domestically in its second weekend. Even more notable is the fact the Disney Animation sequel is already at $915.8 million worldwide, putting it on track to pass the $1 billion threshold soon.

Will Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 Have Strong Legs at the Box Office?

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 managed to continue one of this year’s most prominent box office trends. It’s the latest horror title to exceed early estimates and perform better than expected in its opening weekend. Other films that accomplished this feat, including Sinners and Weapons, used their impressive debuts as a springboard for healthy theatrical runs that featured strong legs at the box office, holding on to the No. 1 position for multiple weekends before business started to slow down. Then there were movies such as Final Destination: Bloodlines and The Conjuring: Last Rites, which saw large second-weekend drops following massive starts. This raises the question of which side of the spectrum Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 will fall on.

It’s plausible Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 plays out similarly to its predecessor. Released during the SAG-AFTRA strike in 2023, the first Five Nights at Freddy’s took advantage of non-existent competition during its opening weekend and then saw a decline of 76.2% in its second weekend. That was enough to retain the top spot at the box office, but it illustrates the franchise can be front-loaded (which is fairly common for horror movies). With that track record in mind, it wouldn’t be surprising if Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 had a big drop of its own in its second weekend, even though there aren’t any high-profile releases on deck next week.

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Depending on how large the decline is, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 might not repeat as box office champion. If the sequel matches the original’s decrease of about 76%, its second weekend gross would be around $15.2 million. That could give Zootopia 2 an opening to surge back to the top spot. Disney’s sequel was the recipient of strong word of mouth, and it should continue to be a main attraction until Avatar: Fire and Ash opens on December 19th. Zootopia 2 had a noticeable decline of its own in its second weekend, though it remains the No. 1 option for its target demographic — especially given the positive reception.

Whether or not Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 holds on to the top spot, Blumhouse still has plenty to celebrate. One of the premier homes of horror had a rough year at the box office, releasing bombs such as Wolf Man and M3GAN 2.0. It’s nice to see the studio continue its turnaround, as Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is Blumhouse’s second consecutive hit following Black Phone 2 in October. It wouldn’t be a shock if Blumhouse explored the possibility of future installments in this franchise, since it looks like it’s established as a reliable box office draw.

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