From left, Bonnie, Freddy Fazbear and Chica in “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” one of the PG-13 horror films by Blumhouse Productions. The company’s next horror flick, “Imaginary,” releases soon.

Moviegoers don’t want the same old. They want new versions of the things they already know. Got it?

The blockbuster $80 million debut of the teen horror pic “Five Nights at Freddy’s” was an eye-opener for many movie biz observers, and not just because of the cameos from YouTubers they might not have recognized that the younger members in the audience certainly did.

“Five Nights at Freddy’s” — the first film based on a massively successful franchise — comes at a time when the year’s two biggest hits are “Barbie,” the first film based on a massively successful toy line, and “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” the first film based on a massively successful video game series, first being the key word in all three of those descriptions. These are familiar properties making their big screen debuts, not the same old, but new versions of things audiences already know. Got it?

It also comes as a couple of big franchises are getting ready to make their latest plays in theaters. “The Marvels,” the 33rd entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, opened Nov. 10, just as the MCU has seen its decade-plus stranglehold on pop culture loosening. The following week sees the release of “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” a prequel to the “Hunger Games” movies, coming eight long years after the last entry in the series.

How audiences react to these films will go a long way in determining the state of those franchises at the movies, and what we can expect on big screens going forward.

Of course, predicting what works at the movies is never foolproof and exists on a case-by-case basis. But you can look at some recent examples and draw conclusions about what is working and what isn’t.

“Five Nights at Freddy’s” blew away recent horror releases “The Exorcist: Believer” and “Saw X.” “The Exorcist: Believer” is a legacy sequel, the sixth film in the 50-year-old “Exorcist” franchise, and part of Universal’s reported $400 million investment in the “Exorcist” property. It earned $60 million at the domestic box office (and another $60 million overseas) but didn’t light a fire underneath anyone for more entries in the series, and was greeted with a collective “been there, done that” from audiences and critics.

“Saw X,” the 10th film in the “Saw” franchise, was the best performing “Saw” in North America since 2008’s “Saw V,” but it didn’t break out of its audience cap. (There’s a limited audience for the sadistic thrills of the “Saw” movies, and they’re never going to be anyone’s idea of a chill night at the movies.) If the “Exorcist” and “Saw” movies indicated it was a blah year for horror in theaters, “Five Nights at Freddy’s” showed the opposite, and that Hollywood just wasn’t making the right horror movies for the right audiences. “Five Nights at Freddy’s” was seen as fresh, “The Exorcist” and “Saw” not so much.

It’s been an up-and-down year for franchises at the movies. This year’s “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Ant-Man,” “Indiana Jones,” “Mission: Impossible,” “Fast and Furious,” “The Equalizer,” “The Nun,” “The Meg,” and “Shazam!” movies all grossed less than their predecessors, while the “Spider-Verse,” “John Wick,” “Creed,” “Scream,” “Insidious” and “Paw Patrol” entries improved on their previous installments. The takeaway: It’s a roll of the dice every time.

So what are the next things we’re familiar with that are going to become big screen events? The answer isn’t as simple as “Funko Pops: The Movie,” although certainly someone will try. “Barbie,” “Super Mario Bros.” and “Five Nights at Freddy’s” are beloved cultural entities with decades of goodwill and brand recognition built into them, and those don’t come along every day.