Blumhouse had a rough start to 2025 that carried all the way through the summer season. But the modern horror hit-maker has bounced back in a big, bad way with the release of Five Nights at Freddy’s 2. The sequel to 2023’s breakout smash hit came in well above expectations at the box office on its opening weekend, setting major records along the way.
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Director Emma Tammi’s Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 opened to an estimated $63 million domestically, taking the number one spot on the charts away from Zootopia 2 ($43 million). While it’s less than the $80 million that the first movie opened to in October 2023, it’s also a record for the post-Thanksgiving weekend. It was also well above pre-release expectations, which had it taking in closer to $40 million. Much like the first one, it over-performed with its core audience. Namely young people who are huge fans of the games.
Internationally, FNAF2 added another $46.1 million for a $109.1 million global start. The budget is said to be between $36 and $51 million. Even on the high end of that range, this is still a great start. Also of note; the first movie was released streaming on Peacock the same day it hit theaters. The sequel is exclusively in theaters for at least a few weeks, which means it can potentially avoid a massive drop in weekend two like the first one. Things are looking good for those who want to see a FNAF trilogy.
The sequel picks up one year after the first movie. Stories about what happened at Freddy Fazbear’s have been twisted into a local legend, inspiring the town’s first ever Fazfest. Abby (Piper Rubio) sneaks out to reconnect with Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy, which sets into motion a deadly series of events. Josh Hutcherson (Mike) Elizabeth Lail (Vanessa) and Matthew Lillard (William Afton) also reprised their roles.
Five Nights at Freddy’s is hugely popular, particular with Gen Z moviegoers who grew up with it. That’s what allowed the first movie to become Blumhouse’s biggest hit ever. They’ve truly tapped into that demographic with these movies. What’s interesting is that there is an unusually massive disconnect between fans of the franchise and critics. FNAF2 holds a lousy 12% critical approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, while also boasting a great 88% audience rating. That’s a gap the likes of which we never see.
In any event, it’s working for the intended audience and that’s what Blumhouse and Universal care about. It allows the house that Jason Blum built to end 2025 on a high note after disasters like Wolf Man and M3GAN 2.0 earlier in the year. They also had Black Phone 2 breakout to become a big hit in October, taking in more than $130 million worldwide. Here’s hoping the worst speedbumps are behind them.
Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is in theaters now. For more, get the lowdown on Blumhouse’s Dead by Daylight movie.
