Globally, “Five Nights at Freddy’s” has grossed over $132 million worldwide, putting it on track to be one of the most profitable horror films of the year. The film also boasts the second-highest debut for a video game pic, failing to match the $146 million record that this year’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” brought home for Universal. While it remains to be seen what the future holds for “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” the film is a major success for Universal. It also helps that “Freddy’s,” which was produced on a reported budget of $20 million, is making the same amount of waves as Marvel Studios’ “Black Widow.”
While it remains to be seen if “Freddy’s” is popular on Peacock — Universal hasn’t released viewership data yet — it speaks volumes that a PG-13 horror pic based on a cult video game is standing toe-to-toe with one of Marvel’s films. “Black Widow” ultimately ended its domestic run with a $183 million haul — one of the lower hauls the billion-dollar franchise has dealt with. Disney, however, revealed that the Marvel film made more than $60 million from Disney+ Premier Access.
Now, all eyes are on the future of “Five Nights at Freddy’s.” While Disney had the excuse of debuting “Black Widow” on Disney+ due to COVID-19, Blumhouse and Universal simply released the video game flick on Peacock to increase its reach. It’s difficult to not wonder how much money Universal left on the table by running with a hybrid release. Deadline says that the horror outing only missed out on $5 to $10 million thanks to the streaming stunt — a small price to pay for a boost in streaming numbers.
