The Five Nights at Freddy’s movie didn’t get stellar reviews from critics, but it looks like fans of this horror series have won after all. Despite several poor reviews, this video game adaptation turned out a huge hit at the box office, which could lead to more sequels.
Variety reports that the film has broken several records, including the biggest opening weekend for a horror movie in 2023, the highest-grossing Halloween weekend release, and the best debut ever for a PG-13 horror film. Considering how some fans originally wanted this to be an R-rated gorefest, it seems that going PG-13 definitely worked in the game’s favor.
Overall, the Five Nights at Freddy’s movie has already made $130 million, which is a ton of money. While that might sound modest when compared to other franchises, we have to take into consideration that it only had a $20 million budget, so the movie more than tripled its overall revenue.
Many fans have noticed that the situation is quite similar to Illumination’s Super Mario Bros. movie, which had a mixed critical reception but made a ton of money anyway. In fact, the Mario film is one of this year’s biggest box office successes, showing that we’re in a good era of video game adaptations.
While fans did end up having the last laugh, this doesn’t mean that the critics are wrong about Five Nights at Freddy’s. Their complaints about the movie’s tone and lack of horror focus are legitimate points of criticism. Still, this series has always appealed to creepypasta nerds and gamers, so the film always had legs.
Now that this movie is a hit, there’s a good chance that Universal could have another franchise on their hands. Considering how many video games have been made, we’d be surprised if there weren’t at least two more of these films.
Plus, the movie also had a mid-credits sequence that blew the fans' minds. Without giving away any spoilers, let's just say that a fan-favorite villain was teased.
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Fans can check out Five Nights at Freddy’s in theaters or at the Peacock app. Gamers can check out the series in most modern consoles, even the Nintendo Switch.