Freddy, set, go
Five Nights at Freddy’s (FNAF) — the movie adaptation of the petrifying pizzeria-based survival video game series — has grossed $78 million in its opening weekend, the 3rd-largest domestic horror opening of all time and the biggest ever Halloween weekend debut.
Although the original game was released in 2014, selling over 2 million units and launching a franchise of FNAF games, the long-awaited movie has taken over a decade to produce. Following a slew of distributor and script disputes, Blumhouse Productions — the hotshot horror-specialist behind Paranormal Activity, Get Out, and Insidious, to name a few — ultimately acquired the movie rights in 2017.
In Blum
The hit may come as a surprise to critics, who weren't exactly glowing in their reviews, but it's become yet another notch in Blumhouse’s blockbuster belt.
Indeed, Blumhouse has once again reaffirmed the profitability of the shock market: of the 90+ horror movies it has had a hand in producing since the 2000s, its top 20 have grossed nearly $1.8 billion at the US box office alone… a stellar return no matter how conservatively you estimate their take of the proceeds, considering the 20 movies cost just $165 million combined to produce.
On the whole, horror movies are renowned for their low-risk, high-reward appeal — the genre dominates rankings of the most profitable movies of all time, with Blumhouse’s own Paranormal Activity topping the list with a spine-tingling $108 million domestic gross from a $15,000budget. FNAF’s impact is especially impressive when you consider that it was simultaneously released on streaming… proving that modern audiences may still forgo Netflix for chills.
