The 'Five Nights at Freddy's' Movie: What We're Most Looking Forward To
At long last, the Five Nights at Freddy's movie is finally happening. After years of script changes, studio changes, and a series of directors, producer Jason Blum announced FNAF is due in theaters and streaming on Peacock, starting October 27, 2023. Josh Hutcherson is taking on the role of Mike Schmidt, the security guard that works the night shift at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, and the character players control in the game.
Matthew Lillard stars as William Afton, and Emma Tammi of The Wind, Into the Dark: Delivered, and Into the Dark: Blood Moon is the director. Fans have been begging for a Five Nights at Freddy's movie adaptation since the first game was released on August 8, 2014. Between the terrifying animatronics that are being brought to life by Jim Henson's Creature Shop, to finally getting a more clear view of Mike's story, there are many reasons to be excited for this movie, which had at least 10 different drafts of scripts, and a grueling eight years of preproduction.
1. Finally seeing your favorite game come to life on the big screen
Fans have been calling for a Five Nights at Freddy's feature film since the game first launched in 2014. The twist on relatable imagery from childhood - hey, Chuck E. Cheese - the uncanny valley aspect of mechanical creatures, and fun jump scares made it perfect for an adaptation.
There was already an announcement at Warner Bros. about a feature film just eight months after the first game was released. It seemed like Seth Grahame-Smith was attached in a writing/producing capacity, and Gil Kenan of the Poltergeist remake was set to helm the movie. However, in March 2017, fans were devastated when Warner Bros. announced they were passing on the film.
After the sucess of Split and Get Out, Blumhouse picked up Five Nights at Freddy's. Chris Columbus (Harry Potter 1 & 2, Gremlins) was announced as the director, and Jason Blum said the movie was on track for a 2020 release. Yet again, it was delayed, this time thanks to "screenwriting issues." Fans continued to demand answers from Blumhouse, and in August 2022, they finally began to deliver. They announced they were working with Jim Henson's Creature Shop to make the animatronic figures.
In October of that year, Emma Tammi (Into the Dark's Delivered and Blood Moon) was named the director, and Josh Hutcherson and Matthew Lillard were announced as cast members. On April 5, 2023, Blum tweeted that the Five Nights at Freddy's film would be released on October 27, 2023, just in time for Halloween.
2. A more cohesive plot
One of the many reasons the Five Nights at Freddy's movie was delayed is that its extensive and complicated lore makes it hard to select what to focus on for one movie. There are 13 games in the franchise, as well as 30 books and graphic novels. It's no wonder it took creator Scott Cawthon so long to perfect a singular story for the script.
Redditors discussing the movie in a Five Nights at Freddy's subreddit expressed excitement to not only get a full picture of Mike's story, but to also have a more cohesive plot in general. Seeing as Cawthon referred to the green-lit script as the “Mike script,” fans yearning to learn more about the security guard's backstory should be in luck.
3. Creations from Jim Henson's Creature Shop
Jim Henson's Creature Shop has taken on the challenging endeavor to create the creepy animatronics beloved by Five Nights at Freddy's fans. In August 2022, Producer Jason Blum posted a sneak peek at the exciting project, writing, “It's great to be working with Jim Henson's Creature Shop. Their experience and expertise with animatronics is absolutely killer! @blumhouse.”
4. Josh Hutcherson as Mike Schmidt
It's been a minute since Josh Hutcherson has been on the big screen, since his last feature film - Burn - came out in 2019. Fans have been especially eager, because Hutcherson doesn't have much of a social media presence, either. Despite having 958 thousand followers, he doesn't have a single post.
Fans went wild on Twitter when the first photos from the film were shared. One Twitter user wrote, "Josh had only 10 seconds of screentime and a dream in that teaser, and he ATE." Another posted, "Josh Hutcherson in Five Nights at Freddy's is going to change lives." Fans of horror and Hutcherson were particularly excited, sharing tweets like, “Josh Hutcherson's Renaissance is finally happening, and he's coming for a scream king title!”
5. The bite of '83
Another popular topic in the reddit thread about the Five Nights at Freddy's movie adaptation was the "bite of '83." This was a horrifying incident shown in Five Nights at Freddy's 4, after completing the game. The scene features a child getting bullied by his older brother, as well as other older kids wearing animal masks. They carry him to where the animatronics were performing, and shove his head into Fredbear's mouth. The animatronic's mouth snaps shut, killing the child.
The cutscene has been much-discussed in the Five Nights at Freddy's fandom, with recreations of the scene garnering millions of views on YouTube. The scene also inspired a meme trend "Was That the Bite of '87?", which was started by YouTube Markiplier's reaction to the scene.
6. Springtrap/Springlock failure
On a reddit thread, multiple people commented that they were excited to hopefully see Springtrap. Springtrap is the antagonist from the Five Nights at Freddy's 3 video game. In the game, this villain is the only one that can actually give players a "Game over," and not just a jumpscare. Springtrap is a very damaged rabbit animatronic created to be part animatraonic, and part wearable mascot costume.
The character is also known for the spring mechanisms in the suit, which were faulty, and would malfunction when the springlocks interact with water and moisture. A Five Nights at Freddy's character's body is actually embedded in the animatronic/mascot suit thanks to said failure. Many people on the reddit thread said they are excited to see a gory springlock failure scene.
7. Matthew Lillard as William Afton
William Afton founded the Freddy's franchise featured in the game in the 1980s, with business partner Henry Emily. Afton murders Emily's daughter around the same time as the Bite of '83 incident - also on this list - and that leads to the establishment closing.
Five years after that, Afton killed five children, dressed as Spring Bonnie (an animatronic/mascot suit hybrid from Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria). This is actually the inciting incident for the video game, because the spirits of the children go into five of the animatronics, vowing to spend their time waiting to enact their revenge on the man that killed them.
Afton will be played in the movie by Matthew Lillard, who already has some iconic horror/spooky roles under his belt, all of which are filled with memorable and hilarious quotes. Some of those movies include Scream, Thir13en Ghosts, and the live-action Scooby Doo movies.
8. The immediate streaming debut
Like other Universal horror releases - Halloween Kills, Halloween Ends - Five Nights at Freddy's will debut in theaters and on Peacock on the same day. It's set to debut on October 27, 2023.
9. Emma Tammi's direction
In October 2022, it was revealed that Emma Tammi had signed on to direct the Five Nights at Freddy's film, which is co-written by Scott Cawthon, based on the franchise he created.
Tammi has previously directed horror/thriller The Wind (2018), as well as two installments of Hulu and Blumhouse's Into the Dark series, Delivered (2020) and Blood Moon (2021). She was also director for the creepy podcast series The Left Right Game.
10. A musical number
There are a myriad of songs for Five Nights at Freddy's, just as there are many video game iterations, and books and graphic novels. Some fans have guessed that the movie could have a musical - or dance! - number featuring the "Five Nights at Freddy's 1" song from The Living Tombstone.
In light of the wildly popular dance number from Blumhouse's M3GAN, it's not out of the question FNAF could have one, too. After the moment was shown in the M3GAN trailer, it instantly became a meme, inspiring drag queens, TikTok videos, and a ton of viral marketing. On TikTok, the hashtag #m3gandance has more than 253.5 million views.
This article was originally published on Ranker.com.
