By This past weekend was fairly dire at the box office. I know that’s been a running theme this year save for a few indie horror movies, but even Five Nights at Freddy’s couldn’t overcome a tremendous dropoff. Opening last weekend to record-breaking numbers, the horror video game adaptation saw a 76% drop to just $19.4 million in gross. The low budget has made the film immensely profitable, but that’s a bad look.
One factor contributing to this dropoff is the simultaneous release on Peacock. Since fans don’t need to rush to theaters for second or third viewings, revenue was inevitably going to decline in subsequent weeks. Another is the negative word of mouth. Despite exploding out of the gate, fans haven’t been exactly pleased with Five Nights at Freddy’s, so no one is in a rush to watch it again.
At least for the rest of the top 10, the lower numbers are down to most films being in their fourth or fifth weeks. Taylor Swift’s legendary Eras Tour movie pulled in a respectable $13.5 million, dropping off only 12.5% from last weekend. Killers of the Flower Moon is probably not turning a profit anytime soon, but another $7 million is likely to make Apple happy. Priscilla also saw a huge boost from its limited release, grabbing $5 million for its wide-release debut.
Sadly, any kind of positive spin you can put on certain films doesn’t make up for the lackluster numbers. Without any truly big-name releases in theaters right now, people simply aren’t heading out to watch movies. Dune Part Two may have driven business, but we can’t know for certain.
Here are the top 10 films for the weekend of November 3-5, 2023. All totals listed are domestic:
- Five Nights at Freddy’s – $19.4 million
- Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour – $13.5 million
- Killers of the Flower Moon – $7 million
- Priscilla – $5 million
- Radical – $2.7 million
- The Exorcist: Believer – $2.1 million
- After Death – $2 million
- Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie – $1.9 million
- What Happens Later – $1.5 million
- Freelance – $1.2 million
