Do you hear what I hear? Could it be the sound of champagne corks popping at Blumhouse HQ? After a year that saw them weather two of their biggest flops, Wolf Man and M3GAN 2.0, their latest sequel, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, just opened to a gargantuan $63 million. That’s roughly thirty million more than we predicted, and we weren’t the only ones to undersell it. Virtually no one expected this sequel to come close to the original’s numbers. The reviews, including many from fans (including this one here), were universally poor, but the franchise’s die-hards clearly feel differently. Its B CinemaScore rating suggests audiences aren’t nearly as down on it as critics.
While a $63 million opening is still a far cry from the $80 million debut of the first film two years ago—especially impressive given that the original opened day-and-date on Peacock—this remains a huge win for the studio. At this point, a third film feels like a matter of when, not if.
Elsewhere on the chart, the two Thanksgiving holdovers tumbled harder than expected. Zootopia 2, despite an A CinemaScore, fell 57% in its second weekend for a $43 million haul. That’s a steep drop for an animated film. Its domestic total now stands at $220 million and it should finish in the $300 million range. Very good numbers, but still well short of the $460 million Moana 2 earned last year. Another sequel struggling to maintain momentum is Wicked: For Good, which collapsed 74% to $16.75 million for a $296 million domestic total. It will finish far below the $474 million that the previous film earned, though it remains a huge moneymaker for Universal.
Anime continued its winning streak at the box office. Jujutsu Kaisen: Execution—a film that even confused our resident anime expert Steve Seigh—earned an excellent $10.1 million. Now You See Me: Now You Don’t dipped another 49% to $3.5 million for a $55.3 million domestic total. Overseas, however, it’s been a blockbuster, crossing the $200 million mark this weekend.
Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair earned a strong $3.2 million in just over 1,100 cinemas, despite only screening twice a day. Many markets reported sellouts, especially the 70mm and 35mm presentations. I caught a DCP matinee in Montreal yesterday—and even that was sold out. A24’s Eternity continues to perform modestly, taking in another $2.76 million for a domestic total just under $10 million. Chloe Zhao’s Oscar contender Hamnet is also underperforming in limited release. It earned $2.3 million on 744 screens, and seems destined to become another adult-driven box office disappointment—even if it scores awards attention. Bollywood action title Dhurandhar, which already has a sequel planned for March 2026, impressed with nearly $2 million on only 390 screens. Predator: Badlands rounded out the top ten with $1.87 million and an $88 million domestic total. Solid, if unspectacular—meaning its sequel prospects are still uncertain.
Next week brings the release of James L. Brooks’s Ella McCay (which is getting rough early buzz), the Silent Night, Deadly Night remake, and not much else. Will Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 hold onto the top spot? Let us know in the comments!
