• by Wayne Friedman , October 30, 2023

Showing off positive business results for its theatrical film debut amid a simultaneous Peacock streaming release, “Five Nights at Freddy’s -- a Universal Pictures/Blumhouse release -- overdelivered on expectations with $78 million revenue in domestic box office for the Halloween weekend, according to Comscore.

It was the second-best streaming/theatrical, same day-and-date release ever, since Walt Disney’s $80 million “Black Widow'' in summer 2021. (Another $60 million came from a special pay-per-view Disney+ streaming offering of the movie).

Universal has done this dual release previously for a thriller/horror-Halloween-centric theme theatrical movie running concurrently with a Peacock release: In 2022 it opened “Halloween Ends” on both platforms and scored a $40 million theatrical U.S./Canada box office revenue, while 2021’s “Halloween Kills” earned $49 million.

Peacock's showing of the movie runs as a part of its monthly subscription service, on its ad-supported or ad-free options.

National TV advertising spending for “Five Nights” totaled $12.1 million, according to estimates from EDO Ad EnGage. Commercials for the movie amassed 3,340 airings and 1.6 billion impressions through October 27.

“Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” had the second-best results for this past weekend, packing in another $14.7 million in U.S./Canada box-office revenue -- earning $149.3 million domestically and $203 million globally.

Paramount Pictures' “Killers of the Flower Moon” added another $9 million over the weekend to now total $88 million globally ($40.6 million domestically and $47.4 million internationally).

To date, Paramount has spent $21.9 million on national TV advertising for “Killers” -- with 3,720 airings, delivering 2.6 billion impressions -- according to EDO Ad EnGage.

Over the past couple of years, theater owners have been critical of streaming platforms -- owned by legacy media companies that have movie studios -- when it has come to simultaneous film releases on both streaming and in-theater platforms, complaining it takes revenues away from their business.