Nobody saw this coming: The film adaptation of the Five Nights at Freddy’s video game series is a huge hit both in theaters and on streaming. Typically, when a movie premieres at home on the same date it’s in theaters, that diminishes its box-office potential. Not Five Nights at Freddy’s. The film dominated the weekend box office and was watched by millions of subscribers on Comcast’s Peacock service.
In fact, according to Peacock, Five Nights at Freddy’s became the “most-watched film or series ever in its first five days on the streaming platform.” So it was not only the biggest movie the service has ever had; it was more heavily viewed than any TV shows as well. (At least according to Peacock.)
Its viewership numbers (which Peacock did not disclose) apparently place it ahead of earlier Peacock record holders like Halloween Ends (which was also released in theaters and on Peacock simultaneously), The Super Mario Bros. Movie (which wasn’t), The Best Man: The Final Chapters, and the TV revival Bel-Air.
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And yet all those views at home had little to no effect on Five Nights at Freddy’s box office. It opened with $132 million in theaters worldwide last weekend, making it the biggest opening for a horror film of 2023. Starring Josh Hutcherson, Five Nights at Freddy’s follows a down on his luck security guard who reluctantly takes a night watchmen job at the abandoned restaurant of the title, which is inexplicably populated by animatronic animals that come to life.
Five Nights at Freddy’s has been an extremely popular game franchise for about a decade now, something that surely helped drive audiences to the movie. But again, plenty of films have been based on games and flopped in theaters, and so have films that were released on streaming the same day as on the big screen. Something about this title spoke to people Clearly young audiences who make up Five Nights at Freddy’s dedicated fanbase decided they would rather see the film on a big screen with their friends than watch it at home with their parents. (I guess their parents were the ones watching it at home? Or maybe the fans rewatched it at home as well?)
Five Nights at Freddy’s is now playing in theaters and streaming on Peacock. Something tells me we’re going to see a sixth night at Freddy’s down the line too.
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