‘Five Nights at Freddy’s 2’ Earns Three Times Its Budget Despite Bad Reviews
Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, the latest horror movie from Universal, Blumhouse, and Atomic Monster, had a surprisingly strong debut at the box office.
The film earned $109.1 million worldwide during its first weekend, far exceeding pre-weekend expectations. Internationally, it brought in about $46.1 million from 76 markets. The movie had a production budget estimated between $36 million and $51 million.
The 2025 sequel is based on the popular video game series created by Scott Cawthon. It follows the 2023 film adaptation and was directed by Emma Tammi, with Cawthon returning as the writer.
Returning cast members include Josh Hutcherson, Elizabeth Lail, Piper Rubio, Theodus Crane, and Matthew Lillard. New actors joining the story are Freddy Carter, Skeet Ulrich, Wayne Knight, Mckenna Grace, and Teo Briones.
Get ready for Freddy. Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is now playing only in theaters. Get your tickets: https://t.co/nxaIfvZDrk pic.twitter.com/k88zzkatgM
— Five Nights at Freddy's (@FNAFMovie) December 7, 2025
Set a year after the first movie, the story centers on Abby Schmidt, played by Rubio, as she reconnects with her animatronic friends. This leads to events that uncover the origins of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. Cawthon had previously suggested in 2018 that a second movie could be made if the first film was successful, drawing inspiration from the second video game in the series.
Despite its strong box office performance, the film received largely negative reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, only 12 percent of 81 critic reviews were positive. The site’s consensus reads, “A step down from an already clunky original, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 goes through the motions with all the grace of a malfunctioning animatronic.”
Metacritic gave it a score of 26 out of 100 based on 23 reviews, indicating “generally unfavorable” reception. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of “B,” slightly lower than the first film’s “A−.”
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