I always come back… to the theaters!
With the popularity of movies and shows based on video games making major headway in recent years, it’s no surprise that the cult classic series Five Nights at Freddy’s is finally receiving its own feature film. However, what is surprising how long it's taken for a FNAF movie, since fans have been rabid about the indie game series ever since the first title was released in 2014.
The movie is set to release on October 27, 2023 in both theaters and streaming on Peacock. But what lore will be included, who’s in the cast, and why did it take so long for this to be made?
Who is starring in the FNAF movie?
The Five Nights at Freddy’s movie has a fairly stacked cast. Josh Hutcherson (The Hunger Games) will star as Mike Schmidt, the unwitting new security guard for Fazbear Entertainment. Abby, his younger sister who tags along during his shift, will be played by Piper Rubio. The purple man himself, William Afton, will be played by Matthew Lillard (Scream, Scooby Doo).
Additional cast will include Elizabeth Lail (You, Once Upon a Time) as what seems to be a local police officer. Mary Stuart Masterson (Blindspot, Benny & Joon) will be a secondary, but currently unconfirmed, villain. Jessica Blackmore, Kat Conner Sterling, and Lucas Grant make up the rest of the cast.
What lore will be in the FNAF movie?
The lore of the FNAF movie will most likely follow the main series to a point. Five Nights at Freddy’s will follow a security guard starting his new job at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria. This basic premise seems to follow the first game the most closely. As in the first game, he’ll start his new gig and discover that the animatronics definitely do get a bit quirky at night (i.e., murderous and vengeful).
The addition of new character Abby will likely change up the game canon lore for the first game. Her inclusion does make it likely that the supernatural aspects of the series will remain the same. Since the in-game animatronics are possessed by the spirits of murdered children, we may see some of the Fazbear gang try to protect Abby from the true villain of the series; William Afton.
The most important character in all of FNAF will continue to be significant in the FNAF movie, especially as we see Spring Bonny in the trailers. This is, of course, William Afton as Spring Bonny is his preferred costume during his murder sprees. The real question is will we see any hints of Springtrap, his later form in the FNAF games. Perhaps Freddy Fazbear will take on a protective role for Abby, similar to Glamrock Freddy in Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach.
Additional lore that could be included in the movie is the reveal that Mike Schmidt is actually Michael Afton, the son of William Afton.
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When does Five Nights at Freddy's come out?
The Five Nights at Freddy’s movie will release simultaneously on streaming and in theaters on October 27, 2023.
It’s a relief that the FNAF movie even got a solid release. The project spent a significant amount of time in so-called "development hell" over the years. A movie adaption was first announced all the way back in 2015 and has gone through some major script revisions, a couple director changes, and a switch in studios.
Between the initial announcement in 2015 and 2017, the FNAF movie was stuck in development hell with Warner Bros. In May 2017, Blumhouse took the project from Warner Bros. and Christopher Columbus was then slated to direct. At this point, Scott Cawthon, the creator of the FNAF series, stated that he would have more control over the story going forward and set off to write his own script alongside FNAF novel writer, Kira Breed-Wrisley and with collaboration from Columbus.
"It's taken longer than I hoped to get the right story."
However, Cawthon’s own dissatisfaction with the scripts that he helped to co-write caused some major delays. According to Cawthon, his script went through ten different drafts and took full responsibility for the delays. In fact, this script delay also caused director Christopher Columbus to step back from the movie in 2021.
In late 2022, Blumhouse announced Emma Tammi as the director and, finally, production started up soon after.
