When compared to a $291 million video game movie from 2023, the Borderlands movie somehow has a better and worse record. Borderlands‘ disappointing box office performance has been well documented since the film was released worldwide. Despite Borderlands‘ climactic ending somewhat teasing future installments, it seems as though the overwhelmingly poor box office returns of the film will see the franchise be rendered dead on arrival. This box office was undoubtedly affected by the bad reviews Borderlands received, which evidently convinced many that this was a movie to be skipped.

Although some of Borderlands‘ cast members were praised, the overall quality of the project was deemed unworthy of the source material. This saw Borderlands gross only $8+ million on its opening weekend domestically, leading many to question if its fortunes would improve or if it would be rendered a devastating box office flop. As it turns out, it seems the latter is more likely. Borderlands‘ second weekend set another unwanted box office record all while being reminiscent of one involving another video game from 2023, though Borderlands intriguingly proves to be both better and worse than its peer.

Borderlands’ Second Weekend Box Office Drop Is Better Than Five Nights At Freddy’s Last Year

Borderlands’ Second Weekend Box Office Drop Broke Records

The record in question pertains to Borderlands’ second-weekend box office drop. The film earned a lowly $2.3 million domestic haul in its second weekend, giving the film a 72% drop from its opening weekend. This set the record for the most drastic drop in 2024, above other box office bombs like Madame Web and Argylle. This drop is only being applied to movies that are classed as wide-release movies, that being first-run movies that played in more than 2,000 theaters during both their first and second weekends.

Title
Week 1
Week 2
Drop

Madame Web
$15.3 million (4013 theaters)
$5.9 million (4013 theaters)
61.4%

Argylle
$17.5 million (3605 theaters)

$6.2 million (3605 theaters)
64.2%

Fly Me to the Moon
$9.4 million (3356 theaters)
$3.3 million (3356 theaters)
64.8%

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
$45 million (4345 theaters)
$15.6 million (4345 theaters)
65.4%

The Bikeriders
$9.7 million (2642 theaters)

$3.3 million (2692 theaters)
65.9%

MaXXXine
$6.7 million (2450 theaters)
$2.1 million (2370 theaters)
69.1%

Borderlands
$8.6 million (3125 theaters)
$2.35 million (3125 theaters)
72%

That said, Borderlands‘ second weekend box office drop was somehow not as bad as that of Five Nights at Freddy’s from 2023. The two are somewhat comparable as they are both movie adaptations based on popular video games that had drastic second-weekend drop-offs. Five Nights at Freddy’s dropped over 76% in its second weekend in the latter months of 2023, one of the biggest of all time. Somehow, Borderlands managed to avoid this despite its own issues.

Five Nights At Freddy’s Second Weekend Was Bigger Than Borderlands’ First Two

Borderlands Still Looks Worse Than Five Nights At Freddy’s

Custom Image by Debanjana Chowdhury

However, on the flip side of the argument, Borderlands still looks worse than Five Nights at Freddy’s based on the minuscule box office earnings it is hauling in. Five Nights at Freddy’s‘ second weekend drop was only so big due to the promising opening weekend it had, earning around $80 million domestically upon its debut. The drop in its second weekend might have been a massive 76%, but it still earned a $19+ million box office haul, topping the charts.

Despite Five Nights at Freddy ‘s suffering a historically poor second-weekend drop, the $19 million it earned domestically in those three days is more than Borderlands ‘ entire haul…

This makes Borderlands look even worse. Borderlands earned just over $2 million domestically in its second weekend, taking its worldwide earnings to $18.5 million. Despite Five Nights at Freddy‘s suffering a historically poor second-weekend drop, the $19 million it earned domestically in those three days is more than Borderlands‘ entire haul, domestically and overseas, across two weeks. This proves how poorly Borderlands is performing in all territories.