The Big Picture · Discussion · Review

Did ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ Just Save Movies? Plus: The Emily Blunt Movie Star Playbook.

October 31, 2023/ 92 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins

Sean and Amanda try to explain why 'Five Nights at Freddy's,' a movie they both think is bad, made $78 million while streaming day-and-date on Peacock, and what that says about the movie-as-event era. Then Sean's Emily Blunt Movie Star Playbook: 30 films in 15 years, a SAG and three BAFTAs, no Oscar until maybe 'Oppenheimer,' plus a running argument about which parts she could have taken instead.

31 films across 3 segments.

AI-generated This episode was transcribed and analyzed with AI models. The matches aren't perfect — expect the occasional misheard title or a link to the wrong film.

Did ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ Just Save Movies?Sean's day-and-date theory, and the contrast cases

Five Nights at Freddy's 2023

The Blumhouse adaptation of Scott Cawthon's long-running horror video game (Cawthon co-wrote and guarded the rights; Warner Bros. passed before Jason Blum grabbed it). Josh Hutcherson as a security guard in a haunted Chuck E. Cheese-style pizzeria, Matthew Lillard 'absolutely cooking' as the villain. Both hosts think it's poor, a slog after a strong first 30 minutes, but it made $78 million domestic and $130 million worldwide on a roughly $25-40 million budget while also streaming on Peacock. Sean's read: a gateway horror movie that turned itself into an event for teenagers, proof of what audiences now want from theaters. Amanda came in cold, having assumed from the posters it was an animated kids' film.

The Exorcist: Believer 2023

The counter-example. Universal reportedly paid $400 million for the franchise rights and hired David Gordon Green for a promised trilogy; the film opened theaters-only and underperformed. Sean's point: audiences didn't want a reheated legacy property, they wanted something new. 'Freddy's' nearly tripled its box office.

The Killer 2023

David Fincher and Michael Fassbender, opening the same weekend into an unclear number of theaters with no box-office reporting before hitting Netflix November 10. Sean and Amanda both love it and use it as the adult flip side of the 'Freddy's' phenomenon: a meticulous crime movie whose sound design and editing get flattened by 'the Netflix gloss' and a phone in your hand. Good for Netflix's business, they argue, maybe not for the movie.

‘Pain Hustlers’the Netflix awards play that isn't

Pain Hustlers 2023

David Yates (of the Harry Potter films) directs Emily Blunt and Chris Evans in a Netflix drama about a high-school dropout who joins a failing Florida pharma startup and lands in a criminal opioid conspiracy, the fifth or sixth screen take on Sackler-era territory. Watchable but forgettable, and a clear awards bid that won't play: Blunt miscast (she can't play a gaudy Florida come-up; she just looks like a million dollars), Evans too handsome for a pharma salesman. The hosts recast it as Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons and prefer that instantly.

The Social Network 2010

Per a Blank Check point Sean relays, the real origin of the 'kind of funny, kind of serious, underdog you're not sure you should root for' genre, not 'The Big Short.' A tight fusion of writing, directing, performance and music that every movie like 'Pain Hustlers' tries and fails to replicate; the elevator pitch is always 'the social network for X.'

The Emily Blunt Movie Star Playbookthe career so far — 30 films, one gauntlet

My Summer of Love 2004

The breakthrough, a Paweł Pawlikowski mystery-romance. Sean calls it terrific.

The Devil Wears Prada 2006

Only her second film, and the first thing everyone thinks of: Emily Charlton, scene-stealing, in on the joke and grounded at once ('you eat carbs'). Widely felt as a snub; the whole movie was, and Meryl should have won.

Dan in Real Life 2007

The Steve Carell dramedy, a bid at a sweet, sad James L. Brooks-style movie that didn't work.

Sunshine Cleaning 2008

A Sundance hit opposite Amy Adams as two sisters cleaning crime scenes to get ahead. Didn't hit.

The Young Victoria 2009

Jean-Marc Vallée directs her as the young queen. Sean's underrated pick: a pre-'The Crown' costume drama more fun than it should be, watched hooting on a plane.

The Wolfman 2010

One of the monsters in her genre gauntlet, opposite Benicio del Toro.

Gulliver's Travels 2010

On paper, with the technology finally there, it could have worked. It didn't.

The Adjustment Bureau 2011

All the right choices, no result: one of several where the pieces were there and it just didn't come together.

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen 2011

Lighthearted, opposite Ewan McGregor; on paper the chemistry's there. It did land a Golden Globe nomination.

Your Sister's Sister 2011

A small indie Sean likes, though not great, and no awards traction, closer to the arthouse lane she rarely takes.

The Five-Year Engagement 2012

Sean likes it but calls it long and sour, and notes Dakota Johnson steals it the way Blunt stole 'Prada.'

Looper 2012

She's very good, but doesn't appear for 45 minutes and the part is only okay, inside a smart, beautifully executed movie.

Arthur Newman 2012

One of the few genuinely small bids she's taken, barely seen.

Edge of Tomorrow 2014

One of her best, and the clearest proof of her range in a single stretch: this, 'Into the Woods,' 'Sicario' and 'The Five-Year Engagement' in about three years.

Into the Woods 2014

The baker's wife in a $100 million musical. Amanda hates the movie; Blunt is fine, and Sean keeps citing it as part of the balancing act.

Sicario 2015

The role that made Sean say we'd never seen a female movie star quite like this. She plays the rube dropped into the situation, and the movie sits on her shoulders while Brolin, del Toro and Kaluuya get the fun.

The Huntsman: Winter's War 2016

Another big-ticket bid, and a successful one: one of many mainstream swings instead of the superhero route she's turned down.

The Girl on the Train 2016

Her 'Gone Girl,' and a tough one. Sean pairs her with Rosamund Pike here, both British, wry, secretly funny, and wonders who market-corrected whom.

A Quiet Place 2018

The tentpole built around her (directed by husband John Krasinski). She won a SAG Award, conveys the terror without much dialogue, and, per Sean, has a great scream.

Mary Poppins Returns 2018

Following Julie Andrews into the role she originated. She's charming and got a Golden Globe nomination; the movie is bad and interminable, but she wasn't the problem.

Wild Mountain Thyme 2020

The John Patrick Shanley film the hosts keep calling 'Wild Mountain Time,' one of the most deranged movies of the century, with Blunt and Jamie Dornan as introverted Irish farm misfits, two of the hottest people alive. Sean owns a promotional mug for it that a babysitter questioned. Respect for trying a weird one; the last 30 minutes are insane.

A Quiet Place Part II 2020

Okay. Great to return to theaters for; less so on rewatch.

Jungle Cruise 2021

The Disney theme-park movie with The Rock: a blatant cash grab, and the one clear miss on the 'you just try it' ledger.

Oppenheimer 2023

Kitty Oppenheimer, the bitter, drunk woman in the corner who 'brings in the sheets.' Sean has six months of outrage stored up: not the sparkly, knowing Blunt he loves, and yet she's likely nominated and might win. He's not mad at her, he's mad at what gets an Oscar.

The Fall Guy 2024

The forthcoming David Leitch action-comedy with Ryan Gosling. Both hosts are excited; Sean would rather she work with a master like Fincher.

IF 2024

Voice work in John Krasinski's part-animated film, mentioned as the next thing on her slate.

Also mentioned raised along the way

The event-movie argument The Super Mario Bros. Movie Barbie Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour Minions Killers of the Flower Moon The Irishman The Night House Invasion of the Body Snatchers

Gateway horror Gremlins The Monster Squad Return to Oz The Nightmare Before Christmas Tremors Coraline Monster House Ghostbusters Dolls

The ‘Social Network for X’ lineage The Big Short Dumb Money

The Oscar what-ifs — parts she could have taken Gone Girl Saltburn An Education A Private War Marriage Story The Favourite Judy Promising Young Woman Spencer Being the Ricardos Parallel Mothers The Lost Daughter The Eyes of Tammy Faye Pieces of a Woman The United States vs. Billie Holiday Precious The Wife I, Tonya Room Philomena Joy A Star Is Born La La Land Tár The Fabelmans To Leslie Blonde Everything Everywhere All at Once Ghost World Lost in Translation Under the Skin Marie Antoinette The Beguiled Cat Person Wonder Woman Black Widow Captain Marvel The Marvels The Deliverance Pulp Fiction Atomic Blonde John Wick Bullet Train Tenet Notes on a Scandal Babel Little Miss Sunshine Dreamgirls The Departed

The November 2023 slate Priscilla Napoleon May December Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé Nyad The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes Rustin Next Goal Wins

Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads

TV The EnglishBig Little LiesThe CrownThe Wheel of TimeSuccessionThe Shadow LineThe Honorable Woman

Games Castlevania

Podcasts Blank CheckThe Bill Simmons PodcastThe RewatchablesThe Wedding Scammer

Books Elvis and MeMCU: The Reign of Marvel StudiosGlossy

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