After years of script rewrites and teases, the Five Nights at Freddy’s movie is finally on its way!
What is Five Nights at Freddy’s?
For those who have been living under a rock or have chosen not to keep up with the indie horror scene since 2014, Five Nights at Freddy’s is a horror video game franchise. The series saw its first release in 2014 and exploded in popularity since. There are eleven total games in the franchise. The film appears to be adapting the first game, if the designs of the animatronics are any indicator. It was also revealed that this film will be the first part of a trilogy. Some theorize that it will adapt the first three games in the series, though others are skeptical. This is due to the second game, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, being a prequel to the first game. Will the trilogy jump around in the series chronology, or will it tell its own story?
Troubled Development
The Five Nights at Freddy’s movie has been in development since 2015. The film experienced many delays, and complete script rewrites. These rewrites were due to the original game’s creator, Scott Cawthon, not being happy with the script. Scott has been a large part of the film’s production since the very beginning and is credited as one of the writers in the upcoming movie. The film has changed hands since its announcement several times, with the film rights originally belonging to Warner Brothers. From 2015 to 2017, the film was utterly rewritten several times before Blumhouse and Universal Studios secured the rights in 2017. However, even then, the film struggled to prepare a solid script until 2021. Then, in 2022 the cast was announced, and filming began in February 2023, wrapping up in April.
Cast
Most of the cast for the upcoming movie has been revealed, though some cast members have yet to have their characters revealed. Cast members and characters we know for sure are as follows. Matthew Lillard of Scream and Scooby-Doo fame plays the series villain William Afton. This particular casting choice was met with unanimous praise from the fanbase—Josh Hutcherson from The Hunger Games stars as the Security guard Mike Schmidt. According to some sources, Elizabeth Lali has been cast in the film and is playing a character named Vanessa. For avid Five Nights at Freddy’s fans, that name should sound familiar as the villain of Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach was also named Vanessa. Mary Stuart Masterson has been cast as a yet unnamed villain.
The Animatronics
The recently released trailer showed off the designs of the animatronics. The designs are incredibly faithful to the designs in the games, which fans of the games are happy about. Jim Henson’s Creature Workshop designed the animatronics. However, one aspect of the designs that some fans are not pleased with is their new red eyes. In the original games, the animatronics were never seen with red eyes, which, to fans, comes across as too silly. Some fans have taken it upon themselves to “fix” the designs by adding in the black and white eyes from the original games.
The Trailer
The first teaser trailer was released on May 16th, 2023. This trailer, while not showing much in terms of plot, gave viewers a good look at many aspects of the film, with the star of the show being the designs of the animatronics. The trailer shows an introductory tape for Fazbear employees, with many of the lines from the tape being lifted from the first game. The teaser also showed off the look of the pizzeria, an incredibly iconic location from the games. Many aspects of the pizzeria’s design, such as the tiled floors and walls, were faithfully adapted.
The Release Date
The Five Nights at Freddy’s movie will be released on October 27th or 2023. While this release date was shown off in the trailer, the actual release date was announced long before the trailer, after filming had wrapped. Blumhouse’s Twitter and Instagram revealed the release date back in April, alongside a teaser image of a young girl holding Freddy’s hand.
