Can Five Nights At Freddy's 2 Match The Original Movie's Box Office Success?

As 2025 rapidly approaches its conclusion, there are only a handful of truly big movies left to hit theaters to help lift the box office after an uneven, wild year. October was downright dreadful, but things are looking up. Blumhouse and Universal will help kick off December with the much-anticipated sequel "Five Nights at Freddy's 2." The first "Five Nights at Freddy's" movie became a downright phenomenon. The question is, can the sequel match the heights of its predecessor? Or should we lower expectations?

Directed once again by Emma Tammi, "Five Nights at Freddy's 2" is currently expected to pull in between $35 and $50 million domestically when it arrives next weekend, per Box Office Theory. For a film with a budget said to be in the $50 million range, that's certainly not bad, especially considering the first movie made 53% of its money overseas. At the same time, 2023's "Five Nights at Freddy's" opened to a massive $80 million in North America. So, even at the high end of the current projections, we're looking at a pretty significant decline on opening weekend.

What's more, "Five Nights at Freddy's" also hit Peacock in the U.S. the same day it opened in theaters. That's not the case this time, with Universal giving the sequel an exclusive theatrical release. That begs the question, why the drop-off? For one, "Zootopia 2" looks to have a gigantic opening over Thanksgiving, with "Wicked: For Good" also still a major factor. There will be heavier competition.

"Five Nights at Freddy's" opened in October with little competition to speak of, partially because "The Marvels" debuted well below projections and plummeted in its second frame. That helped the cause. This time, though, the video game adaptation's sequel is going up against some juggernauts in a crowded holiday corridor.

"Five Nights at Freddy's 2" picks up one year after the events of the first film. The stories about what transpired at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza have been twisted into a local legend, inspiring the first ever Fazfest. When Abby (Piper Rubio) sneaks out to reconnect with Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy, it sets into motion a terrifying series of events, uncovering dark secrets about the true origin of Freddy's. Josh Hutcherson (Mike) and Elizabeth Lail (Vanessa) also return. Newcomers include McKenna Grace ("Regretting You"), Wayne Knight ("Jurassic Park"), and Skeet Ulrich ("Scream").

Let's be clear: "Five Nights at Freddy's" was Blumhouse's biggest movie ever, taking in $297 million in theaters worldwide. Even if the follow-up makes just two-thirds of that amount, it would still be a huge success. The issue, sometimes, is that a sequel has to live in the shadow of something that overdelivered, making regular ol' success seem like a relative failure.

It's worth remembering that "Five Nights at Freddy's" also dropped like a rock on weekend two, falling 76% from its opening. That was undoubtedly, at least in part, a byproduct of the Peacock release. This time, however, fans of this very popular franchise will have to go to theaters to see it for at least the first several weeks. Thanks to the fruitful holiday window and a lack of bigger movies until "Avatar: Fire and Ash" arrives on December 19, the sequel has a better chance at legging out compared to the first entry. So yes, we may need to temper expectations, but this movie figures to be playing the long game rather than relying on an outsized opening to make its hay.

"Five Nights at Freddy's 2" hits theaters on December 5, 2025.