‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ smashes box office

The recent release of the “Five Nights at Freddy’s” movie on Oct. 27 has reignited the franchise’s popularity, and fans of the games swarmed the theaters. The majority of the fans of the original game of the same name, which came out on Aug. 8, 2014, are now adults; however, the film’s financial success at the box office proves that older fans were still eager to rush to the theaters to see it.

 “Five Nights at Freddy’s” started as a point-and-click survival horror game created by Scott Cawthon. The player is a security guard trying to survive the night shift at Freddy Fazbear’s pizzeria and needs to survive from midnight to 6 a.m., or nearly nine minutes in the game, constantly checking their surroundings utilizing cameras, lights and doors, and hiding from animatronics that are trying to kill the player.

 The story behind the game has drastically evolved over the course of nine years. The story of the first game is simple: a night guard is trying to survive five nights at the pizzeria as he is trying to protect himself from possessed animal-themed animatronics. The sequels expand on the lore of this world by introducing the creator of the animatronics and pizzeria, William Afton, who serves as the primary antagonist of the franchise. The franchise spans over 13 games, including spin-offs and 28 books.

 The success and popularity of “Five Nights at Freddy’s” is largely owed to the YouTube gaming community, specifically Mark Fischbach, known professionally as Markiplier, and Matthew Patrick, known as MatPat. Markiplier’s countless videos and series playing every installment of “Five Nights at Freddy’s” since the launch of the first game has accumulated hundreds of millions of views, with his first video gaining 114 million views alone.

 MatPat, who runs the Game Theory YouTube channel, is often credited for being the reason that the lore of “Five Nights at Freddy’s” is so expansive. He got this recognition for being one of the first people to theorize about what the story was and where it was headed after the release of the first game. MatPat is even featured in a cameo in the film as a waiter. According to interviews with Cawthon, Markiplier was supposed to film a cameo as well but couldn’t because of scheduling conflicts with his own film.

 The movie had a budget of $25 million, and in just over two weeks after release, it has grossed a domestic total of $113 million and a global total of $231.9 million. The film is breaking box office records and is the highest-grossing horror film of 2023.

 It is safe to say that the movie alluded to a potential sequel, or multiple, throughout the film. When asked about a sequel and the future of the franchise, the film’s director, Emma Tammi, told Variety, “We’re definitely excited to keep making more movies in this world, should we be lucky enough to do that.” It is evident that the filmmakers want to further explore and expand on the film adaptations of the games, leaving audiences with the promise of more to come.