New horror film Five Nights at Freddy's has struck a chord with New Zealand filmgoers.
The PG-13 movie has beaten box office expectations in the US, amassing US$78 million in its opening weekend, despite it being simultaneously released on streaming service Peacock+.
Here in Aotearoa, according to figures from Universal Pictures New Zealand, the film has raked in over $760,000 in its first weekend.
That makes it the third biggest opening weekend horror movie since the 2017 and 2019 releases of IT Part One and IT Part Two respectively.
The movie, which is based on a popular video game franchise which began in 2014, centres on The Hunger Games' star Josh Hutcherson who plays a night-time security guard called in to look after Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria.
Speaking to AM on Thursday morning, Newshub film critic Darren Bevan noted while Five Nights at Freddy's had an in-built audience who appreciated the faithfulness to its video game roots, some outside of its core fanbase may struggle to see the appeal.
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