Universal/Blumhouse-Atomic Monster’s “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2” has set a new record for the best opening ever on post-Thanksgiving weekend with a $63 million launch.
While not as high as the Blumhouse record $80 million opening that the first “Five Nights” earned in October 2023, it does slip above the $60 million opening weekend of last December’s video game adaptation, “Sonic the Hedgehog 3.”
Given its status as a PG-13 horror film rather than a PG family film, “FNAF2” won’t pass the $236 million domestic run of “Sonic 3,” but it is a testament to how “Five Nights” has grown a devoted fanbase since the game series began in 2014 that is willing to turn out in droves for at least one weekend, turning these films into a Gen Z-driven franchise akin to “Demon Slayer.”
Reception among fans to the sequel remains strong, though comparisons to the first film are mixed. “Five Nights 2” got a B on CinemaScore compared to an A- for its predecessor but got a 70% “definite recommend” rating on PostTrak compared to 61% for the first film.
“FNAF2” also gives Blumhouse a resurgent finish after a rough 18-month slump that included flops like “The Woman in the Yard,” “Wolf Man,” and this past summer, “M3GAN 2.0.” The studio still needs to rediscover its magic touch with high-concept original horror films that win over audiences; but combined with the $131.9 million global run of “Black Phone 2,” Blumhouse at least has a couple of hit sequels to help find its footing again at the box office.
Taking second on the charts is Disney’s “Zootopia 2” with $43 million in its second weekend, bringing its domestic total to $220.5 million and its global total to a whopping $915 million. In China, the film continues its breakneck pace with a spectacular $120 million second weekend, passing “The Fate of the Furious” to become the second-highest grossing Hollywood release in the country and stay on pace to pass “Avengers: Endgame” for the record with a $625 million-plus total in the country.
The film also put up excellent holds in the rest of the world with a combined international drop outside of China of just 27% including a $12.3 opening weekend in Japan that is second only to “Frozen II” among all Hollywood animated films in the country. The film even saw a 45% weekend increase in Vietnam and a 13% increase in Thailand en route to a $212 million overall international total for the weekend.
This coming week, “Zootopia 2” will pass $1 billion worldwide and with it the unadjusted global theatrical runs of its 2016 predecessor and last year’s “Moana 2.” It is currently pacing to at least reach the $1.36 billion total of “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” and perhaps challenge the unadjusted $1.45 billion total of 2019’s “Frozen II” to become Walt Disney Animation’s highest grossing film ever.
The big surprise of the weekend was Universal’s “Wicked: For Good,” which sunk to a third weekend of $16.75 million. Not only is that a drop from Thanksgiving weekend of roughly 73%, it is less than half of the $36 million third weekend that last year’s “Wicked” earned.
Whether it is because of competition for some younger audiences from “Zootopia” and “FNAF,” a decline in interest among general moviegoers due to somewhat weaker word-of-mouth than the first “Wicked,” less rewatch interest among hardcore fans because of the film’s expected bleaker tone, or a combination of those factors, “For Good” is shaping up to be even more frontloaded than expected. Domestically, the film stands at just under $297 million compared to the $322 million its predecessor had after three weekends.
In fourth is Gkids’ “Jujutsu Kaisen: Execution,” the latest film from the hit anime series which got $10.1 million from 1,833 screens, including Imax support. Like “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” “Execution” is expected to be a film that makes most of its grosses in one weekend, making the post-Thanksgiving weekend an ideal release slot since it doesn’t have to worry about Christmas blockbusters curtailing its legs.
Lionsgate’s “Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair” completes the top 5 with $3.25 million from 1,198 locations. Quentin Tarantino’s revenge epic, originally released as a two-parter in 2003 and 2004, has been edited into a 281-minute epic released to the public for the first time this weekend, earning rave reception from the filmmaker’s devoted fans.
Farther down the charts, the weekend was a busy one for specialty films. Focus Features’ “Hamnet” expanded to 744 locations and made $2.3 million, bringing its total to $4.2 million. Neon’s “The Secret Agent” starring Wagner Moura made $108,000 from eight screens for a per theater average of $13,623.
“Fackham Hall,” Bleecker Street’s send-up of “Downton Abbey,” made $621,000 from 1,129 locations, and Sony Pictures Classics’ Broadway proshot of “Merrily We Roll Along” starring Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff and Lindsay Mendez earned $1.2 million from 1,141 locations.
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