In case you need further proof that horror is the box office’s chosen child, “Thanksgiving” wasn’t the only horror movie in the top five over the weekend. “Five Nights at Freddy’s” has been dropping precipitously since its mammoth $80 million debut (mostly due to a day-and-date streaming release on Peacock), but in its fourth weekend it still managed to gross another $3.5 million at the domestic box office, bringing its global total to $284.3 million. With a reported production budget of $20 million, the video game adaptation will easily be one of the most profitable movies of the year.
Speaking of the year, “Thanksgiving” is actually the final theatrical horror release of 2023, which means it could stick around on screens for a while simply due to the lack of any other horror offerings. The next major spooky release is Blumhouse’s haunted swimming pool movie “Night Swim” on January 5, 2024. Until then, horror fans, we’re looking at a long, dry December.
At least there’s always the option of rewatching “The Nightmare before Christmas.”