Five Nights at Freddy’s has once again defied financial expectations. Just as the original did in 2023, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 defied predictions and earned a bundle in its opening weekend.
Universal and Blumhouse’s horror sequel, based on the video game and book series of the same name, took in a record $63 million. That’s the highest opening of all time for the weekend after Thanksgiving, historically a dead zone at the box office. Freddy’s 2 was projected to gross between $35 million and $40 million last weekend. Those predictions weren’t bad, especially considering the reported budget of $36 million, but they were well below the original’s staggering $80 million opening weekend. Instead, Emma Tammi’s PG-13 horror nearly doubled those estimates.
Josh Hutcherson, Elizabeth Lail, and Piper Rubio returned to lead the sequel, which finds the trio once again besieged by murderous animatronics (possessed by murdered children, no less) at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria. Wayne Knight and Skeet Ulrich appear in supporting roles, while Megan Fox joins the cast to supply the voice of Toy Chica.
‘Freddy’s 2’ Defies Negative Reviews
Just like its predecessor, albeit on a larger scale, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2defied negative reviews and was largely a hit with audiences. Despite a 13 percent critical consensus on Rotten Tomatoes—up from 11 percent on Friday—Freddy’s 2 scored a B rating on Cinemascore, which is on the positive side for the genre. Still, what works for fans of the game is seemingly lost on newcomers. “It’s impressive how little fun the filmmakers manage to render demonic toy robots,” per Men’s Journal’s review.
Universal/Blumhouse
Zootopia 2 took second place with $43 million, though going into the weekend, it was expected to take the top spot. Disney’s sequel has grossed $220 million in North America and nearly $700 million overseas, and will likely cross the billion-dollar mark within the next week. In China, Zooptopia 2 is the highest-grossing Hollywood title of all time behind Avengers: Endgame (2019).
Wicked: For Good took third place, and Lionsgate dominated the bottom half of the top five with Now You See Me: Now You Don’t at number four, and Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair at number five. The Whole Bloody Affair, which unites Kill Bill Vol. 1 and Kill Bill Vol. 2, amassed a fairly impressive $3.25 million from just under 1,200 locations. Not bad for a 22-year-old movie, one which is playing nominally in limited showtimes and runs nearly five hours (including a 15-minute intermission). The massive double feature includes added material which was excised from the original films, as well as a new anime sequence and a Fortnite short visualizing a mythical “lost chapter” from Tarantino’s original screenplay.
