Bad reviews didn’t scare off the ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s 2’ audience. It even broke a record

This image released by Universal Pictures shows a Withered Chica in a scene from "Five Nights at Freddy's 2." (Ryan Green/Universal Pictures via AP)

“Five Nights at Freddy’s” has powered up the box office once again. The sequel opened in 3,412 theaters in the U.S. and Canada this weekend and far surpassed expectations with $63 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Seemingly immune to widely negative reviews, “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2” notched the biggest opening ever for the weekend after Thanksgiving, which usually is a more muted buffet of leftovers. It’s also the biggest opening of the year for a PG-13 rated movie and the second biggest horror opening, behind “The Conjuring: Last Rites.” The movies and the game are about a family restaurant, Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, whose anthropomorphic robots turn murderous at night.

“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, who heads domestic distribution for Universal.

The first film, also a Blumhouse production, was a surprise hit two years ago. It opened to $80 million in October 2023, despite also being available to stream on Peacock. Universal decided to open the sequel exclusively in theaters. With a reported production price tag of only $36 million, “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2” is on its way to being another smash. It’s another reminder of the potential massive upside of theatrical releases as many in the industry and out wonder what Netflix’s acquisition of Warner Bros. will mean for moviegoing.

The sequel, written by the game’s creator Scott Cawthon, saw the return of cast members like Josh Hutcherson, Matthew Lillard and Elizabeth Lail as well as director Emma Tammi. Reviews were dismal, even worse than the first. Mark Kennedy, in his zero star review for The Associated Press, called it an “incoherent mess.” But horror fans have been known to turn out for opening weekends regardless of reviews. This audience had a decidedly more positive take. According to PostTrak polling data, 70 per cent of ticket buyers said they would “definitely” recommend “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2” to their friends.

Paul Dergarabedian, the head of marketplace trends for Comscore, said that the teen video gamer audience is sometimes underestimated and this weekend proves once again that given the right film, will come out to the movie theater for that communal experience with fellow fans.

It was also enough to push the more family-friendly “Zootopia 2” into second place in its second weekend in theaters, where it added $43 million in North America. But the Disney film isn’t hurting after its record Thanksgiving opening. With $219 million from 52 territories internationally, including China, the running global total is an eye-popping $915.8 million. It’s officially pushed Walt Disney Studio releases over the $5 billion mark globally — the only studio to do so this year.

“Wicked: For Good,” also a Universal release, landed in third place in its third weekend with $16.8 million from 3,985 theaters, brining its domestic total just shy of $297 million.

Fourth place went to Gkids’ anime “Jujutsu Kaisen: Execution” which opened to an estimated $10.2 million, while Lionsgate’s “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t” rounded out the top five with $3.5 million, pushing its running global total to $210 million.

“Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair” was close behind with $3.3 million from 1,198 theaters. Quentin Tarantino combined “Kill Bill: Vol. 1″ and “Vol. 2” into a four hour and 35-minute epic (including a 15 minute intermission). The Lionsgate release got a rare A+ CinemaScore from an audience that was 72% male. According to the studio, most of the 70mm and 35mm showings were sold out. Due to the demand for the film prints, the studio is exploring an extended run. “Kill Bill” star Lucy Liu had a big weekend at New York’s AMC Lincoln Square where the independent drama “Rosemead” made $50,243 from one screen.

A filmed version of the Tony-winning revival of “Merrily We Roll Along,” starring Jonathan Groff, Daniel Radcliffe and Lindsay Mendez and released by Sony Pictures Classics, opened just outside of the top 10 with $1.2 million from 1,084 screens.

The running annual domestic box office just this weekend surpassed $8 billion. Since the pandemic, it’s only surpassed $9 billion once, in 2023, when “Barbie” topped the year. Prior to 2020, it would regularly hit $11 billion.

“It’s not impossible, but every movie is going to have to overperform in some way if we’re going to get to the $9 billion threshold,” Dergarabedian said.

Top 10 movies by domestic box office

With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:

1. “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2,” $63 million.

2. “Zootopia 2,” $43 million.

3. “Wicked: For Good,” $16.7 million.

4. “Jujutsu Kasen: 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.

Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press