In the first weekend, the film made a strong impression when it reached the top 1 at the domestic box office with 78 million USD and earned more than 52 million USD in other countries, bringing its total global revenue to 130 million USD.
This success has brought Five Horror Nights to the top position of the horror film with the highest opening revenue of 2023, surpassing The Nun II (88.1 million USD) and is also the work that owns the opening weekend. highest of all time for Blumhouse, ranked above Halloween ($91.8 million).
In the North American market alone, this “20 million USD budget” work also brought many “respectable” records: The film has the highest opening revenue released on Halloween (surpassing Puss In Boots 2011 with 34 million USD), Top 1 PG13 horror movie with the most money after 3 days of release (overthrowing The Mummy Returns, 68 million USD), Top 3 horror movies of all time with the best opening, Second movie Blumhouse’s 19 topped the box office (According to Variety statistics).
In addition to a “more interesting” content, the film also contains a series of interesting behind-the-scenes secrets revealing the marvelous production process. The film is about a security guard who must survive the night at an abandoned restaurant called Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, where robots can suddenly “come to life” at night. The work is based on the best-selling game by developer Scott Cawthon, produced by horror film studio Blumhouse Production. Five Nights of Terror was directed by Emma Tammi, with actor Josh Hutcherson in the lead role.
Electronic puppets – the soul of Five Nights of Terror
Unlike most studios that use CGI for fantasy characters, Five Nights of Terror’s killer robots were handcrafted by famous special effects company Jim Henson’s Creature Shop. That’s how Freddy Fazbear, Bonnie, Chica, Foxy and Mr. Cupcake’s big screen debut is realistic and scary.
Jim Henson’s creature “shop” has a tradition of creating real-life nightmares. Their designs have appeared in many classic movies such as Sesame Street, Dark Crystal, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or Babe. They have the ability to create impressive, soul-like models while satisfying horror demands for all ages – something Emma Tammi and Blumhouse aimed for when determining Five Nights of Terror’s PG-13 rating. .
The process of designing and building the characters was not easy, but the team was very pleased to see the robots take shape. Each artifact is a product of creativity, director Emma Tammi shares: “I often stop by Henson’s to check everything out and it is a sight to behold. Everyone started working on the designs together. Some parts are being built here, others are being sewn up there. Everything is done by hand. It was an incredible workshop, something truly special and rare these days.”
For scenes where the characters are not moving, puppeteers control the movements of both the head and body. On rare occasions when a character walks or dances, a stuntman wears the costume, while puppeteers control the head remotely. For example, the complex structure of Foxy’s skeleton meant that scenes where he walked required up to six puppeteers to fully execute the movements.
Having life-sized robots there helps the actors get more involved and interact with the plot. Director Emma Tammi emphasized the importance of physical designs instead of computer effects: “Our story takes place in a time when movies were mostly intervened with practical effects. Those electronic puppets, they had their heyday in the 80s. They always gave off a strange sense of imperfection. We want to recreate that.”
When it comes to production design… I also love games and “easter eggs” from Donnie Darko
Five Nights of Terror was filmed in New Orleans, Louisiana. Filming lasted 43 days. To make the film, production designer Marc Fisichella played FNAF with his son – an avid Five Nights fan. He directly designed details in the film from this experience.
The film was shot on an ARRI Alexa 65 with a large format sensor. The crew chose it because of its wider shooting capabilities than most other cameras. This is very important, the film needs to include the actors and the two meter tall robots in the same frame.
Director of photography Lyn Moncrief and director Emma Tammi designed a specific aesthetic within Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria, including different lenses and angles. POV shots from the robots are often used as a way to add tension.
VFX supervisor Jonathan Dearing worked with director Emma Tammi on ways to minimize the use of CGI, a goal from the beginning of the film. Before production began, Emma Tammi and the stunt coordinator oversaw a month of rehearsals with puppeteers, animators, and creature effects arrangers, to get a feel for the models. robot image and ensure the safety of everyone on set.
Head of hair Amy Wood (M3GAN, Preacher) shares that the classic 2011 film Donnie Darko was the main inspiration for Five Nights of Terror’s hair designs.
FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S (original title: FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S) is showing in theaters.