Maybe we should’ve seen something like this occurring as its distant other record-holding sibling, Black Widow, had a tumbling 67% drop off in its subsequent weekend due to many folks exploiting its release on Disney+ Premier Access and pirating becoming another case online. Five Nights at Freddy’s took a harsh drop of 76% in its second weekend ($19.4 million), which may have folks concerned about its legs. Still, we do have to acknowledge that the feature has remained intact on Peacock to stream at homesteads, and some folks are already tossing its clips and entire runtime online. Universal and Blumhouse’s select feature has passed $113 million domestically and $215 million globally (on a $20 million budget), so no one is losing sleep over this commercial success.
The stirring question is whether the feature falls into another Tomb Raider series trap, aka the superior sequel to the mediocre predecessor stumbles because audiences didn’t really enjoy the first one, or whether fans got what they wanted for an FNAF movie and will gladly see more follow-ups. The latter seems more confident due to the expansive lore and the current trend on Rotten Tomatoes, where “critics don’t kill the intentions of casual/diehard viewers to witness such a spectacle.” Remember, it has already flung its numbers past other horror films of the year domestically, like M3GAN, Scream VI, and The Nun II. At this pace, it will still be running past Get Out to become the highest-earning film under Blumhouse’s banner, so poor legs or not, it’s an unbridled success.
In other (soft) news for the weekend, The Eras Tour legged beautifully in its fourth weekend with $13.5 million added to its resume. It is over $215 million as well, another success story for the highest-grossing concert film domestically. Killers of the Flower Moon had a better weekend, dipping 25% to take in $7 million. It currently sits at $109.1 million worldwide, but it is a far cry for a number to justify its $200 million budget. Apple will learn its lesson, hopefully, once they get an IP under their belt to utilize against the other major Hollywood studios.
Priscilla from A24 took in a better-than-hoped $5 million as it expanded to 1,359 theaters ($3,741 per theater). Sofia Coppola’s feature delicately mixes love and fame while bringing another take on Elvis. And fifth place belonged to newcomer Radical, taking in $2.73 million.
The Exorcist: Believer has passed $125 million globally, After Death will pass $10 million domestically later this week, and PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie will pass $170 million by the end of this sentence. Freelance has crashed with less than $5 million globally on a $40 million budget; it’s one of those features that should’ve gone straight to DVD and is another reminder to never prevent comedy veterans like John Cena and Alison Brie from showcasing their talents.
Next weekend sees the release of The Marvels, Dream Scenario, Your Lucky Day, It’s a Wonderful Knife, and Manodrome.
