**Updated June 27th with new trailer**
I was exactly one generation removed from the whole Five Nights at Freddy’s craze. By the time it was starting to take off, I already felt I’d already outgrown the “YouTube horror” thing. During PE class, me and the girlies who’d do nothing except walk around the track would trade stories from our lives, and since one of them was a year or two younger, she knew ALL about FNAF. If it weren’t for her, I’d have absolutely no idea what this franchise was even about.
Similarly, when I heard about the movie, I thought it would just be one of those projects that got picked up but would never see the light of day. Lo and behold, not only is it alive and well, we’ve finally gotten some new information about it. Blumhouse—yes, the Blumhouse that brought us M3GAN and other similarly campy horror films—is finally making the film a reality. Knowing game creator Scott Cawthon’s political values, I have to wonder if we should even be giving this franchise this much attention, but ultimately the Freddy train is showing no sign of slowing down at this point.
Five Nights at Freddy’s trailer & similarities to the game
As can be seen in this trailer, they’re taking some creative liberties with the plot that I think fall into the original “lore” of the game quite nicely (yes, I did my research, I’m hip to FNAF now). Josh Hutcherson will play Mike Schmidt, the new security guard, who decides to bring his daughter Abby (Piper Rubio) to work with him overnight. However, of course, the big nasty animatronics are out for blood, and as they’re possessed with the souls of dead children, they want to add Abby to their little “family.” Spooky stuff.
Per Blumhouse’s Instagram account:
The film follows a troubled security guard as he begins working at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. While spending his first night on the job, he realizes the night shift at Freddy’s won’t be so easy to make it through.
Starring Josh Hutcherson (Ultraman, The Hunger Games franchise), Matthew Lillard (Good Girls, Scream), Elizabeth Lail (You, Mack & Rita), Kat Conner Sterling (We Have A Ghost, 9-1-1), Piper Rubio (Holly & Ivy, Unstable) and Mary Stuart Masterson (Blindspot, Fried Green Tomatoes). Five Nights at Freddy’s is directed by Emma Tammi (The Wind, Blood Moon) and is written by Scott Cawthon, Emma Tammi and Seth Cuddeback.
The film’s iconic animatronic characters will be created by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop.
Five Nights at Freddy’s is produced by Jason Blum and Scott Cawthon. The film’s executive producers are Bea Sequeira, Russell Binder and Christopher H. Warner. Universal Pictures presents a Blumhouse production, in association with Striker Entertainment.
What could potentially be interesting is how they’re adding lore from later games into the general plot of the first one. For the uninitiated, here’s a rough summary (*with mild spoilers, so be warned*):
Freddy Fazbear’s is a pizza joint á la Chuck-E-Cheese, founded by two men named Henry Emily and William Afton. Afton had a penchant for murder, starting with Emily’s daughter and eventually moving onto various children who’d come visit the pizza place. However, the ghosts of his victims would come to haunt him, and while attempting to hide from them inside an old springtrap animatronic suit, he’s crushed and trapped inside–a plot-point that the film seems to have doubled-back on, at least for now, as we see a very non-crushed Matthew Lillard playing Afton in the trailer.
They also are giving a fan-favorite character, the security guard Vanessa, a role in this film as a police officer. Vanessa’s inclusion is intriguing, as she apparently becomes brainwashed into a serial killer called “Vanny” at Afton’s behest in later games. However, judging from the comments, fans are even more excited at the casting of Cory DeVante Williams, also known as CoryxKenshin, a popular YouTuber who rose to prominence through his FNAF playthroughs. It’s still unclear whether or not his role is a cameo or not, but one thing is definitely for certain: this film is being made with the fans in mind.
Now, whether or not they actually manage to pull it off is one thing. Video game adaptations have largely been hit-or-miss, with the recent Mario Bros. movie being a major example of a polarizing take on a beloved game franchise. From what we’ve gathered so far, the FNAF movie seems to be taking a Silent Hill approach: made with love, jamming lots of details within it, yet still ultimately going in its own direction. And the involvement of Emma Tammi, who directed the 2018 supernatural western thriller The Wind, is extremely intriguing. I suppose all that remains is to simply wait and watch it upon release.
Five Nights at Freddy’s Release Date & Streaming
The Five Nights at Freddy’s movie will be going day and date, with Blumhouse releasing the film in theaters and on Peacock Friday, October 27th—perfect spooky season timing. That leaves plenty of time for you to catch up on your FNAF expertise in anticipation–or hey, why not nurture the element of surprise going into it? Even as a non-fan of the series, I’m still pretty curious about this film, and am looking forward to seeing how it brings such a storied franchise to life.
(Featured Image: ScottGames)
