For a post-Thanksgiving new release and on the cusp of heartbreaking news of the future of the theaters, a Blumhouse gaming sequel showed up to bank records and reminded everyone that folks still want to go to the theater. This is one of the rare times after Thanksgiving, outside of 1991 and 2003, when folks wanted to go out and enjoy time in the cinematic realm, kicking dollars and taking names! Or something like that…
Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 opened with $63 million domestically, roughly a 21% drop from its predecessor’s $80 million opening in 2023. Yes, even with the variables of its predecessor opening simultaneously on Peacock and in the multiplex, the first one still had a bigger opening but was more frontloaded than this time around. It has already frightened its way to $109 million worldwide. If it legs like its predecessor, which earned $297 million worldwide (aka the highest-grossing Blumhouse film), it will probably land around $250 million worldwide. Youth-skewing and all, this still reminds studios, including Universal, that you can release big-deal movies on any weekends, and keep the doors open for the kids to come check out the product. With all that being acknowledged, yours truly cannot forgo the fact that, in a bit of predetermined perspicacity, we were in the rut for getting a poor product (we see you with the 12% score on Rotten Tomatoes!). But, much like its predecessor, folks still turned out because of A) the PG-13 rating, B) their major interest in the gaming IP, and C) technically, the first one was well-liked by audiences and turned up enough money that a sequel (or sequels) were all but inevitable. Will the third one be the wrench that says, “We can’t keep lucking it out with piss-poor products to hope to nab more numbers!”? Sounds like a Divergent redux; maybe Jason Blum and James Wan will be ok with a threequel earning around $150 million worldwide.
Now, imagine: after yesterday’s discussions, if this sequel had gone straight to PVOD, would Blumhouse be celebrating? Well, imagine the horrors if someone yanked the third one from the release scheduled to toss it on Peacock for $30; who’d be circling the drain then? Jokes aside, let’s hope the optimism carries forward and that Blumhouse puts on a “decent” product when the third one drops in 2027-28.
In other news, Zootopia 2 earned $43 million domestically in its second weekend. It has now passed $220 million domestically, with a better second weekend hold than Moana 2. But, there’s more: the film has been exploding so damn well internationally and has now passed $915 million worldwide. Thanks to an uproar in China, it has now passed $400 million worldwide over there, and is Hollywood’s second-biggest earner (only behind Avengers: Endgame‘s $633 million). With this blossoming effect, it has now become the fourth-biggest earning film of the year (third if you’re not counting a Hollywood film, aka Ne Zha 2). It should be past $1 billion worldwide by Thursday evening/Friday morning.
Wicked: For Good took a 73% harsh drop in its third weekend, bringing it to $296.9 million domestic and $440 million worldwide. That drop is much steeper than that of The Hunger Games, The Twilight Saga, and Harry Potter sequels (or prequels), which dropped 60-65% in weekend three. It may end up closer to $600-650 million than $700 million at this rate, even if holiday legs are still in its favor. It’s still a win, nonetheless, for Universal, especially when they have animatronics running the show for a bit before Avatar 3 jumps into town.
GKIDS’ Jujutsu Kaisen: Execution opened with $10.155 million; fitting that an anime-specifically targeted film opened alongside another animatronics/gaming specific title. Anyway, a promising debut for what’s to come in the following episodes. Now You See Me: Now You Don’t has passed $55 million domestic and is days away from passing $200 million worldwide.
Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair opened with $3.25 million and is practically free money for Lionsgate, as well as a friendly reminder to cinephiles to see what other features they missed in Vol. 1 & 2. A24’s Eternity added over a thousand theaters in its second weekend and will pass $10 million domestic sometime this week. Hamnet took in $2.3 million in its second weekend. And Predator: Badlands has passed $175 million worldwide.
Next weekend sees the release of Ella McCay, Dust Bunny, Silent Night, Deadly Night, and Atropia.
