With its relatively simple premise and genesis as one man’s labor of love, it’s hard to believe that a game about evil animatronic robots led to numerous sequels and a series of books, while also playing a major role in popular YouTuber Markiplier’s career. Drawing on the stuff of children’s nightmares, Five Nights at Freddy's puts the player in the role of an overnight office attendant at a Chuck E. Cheese-type establishment. Whenever the player takes their eyes off any of the creepy robots, they move. In a race against the clock, the game tests how rapidly a player can jump between screens to save themselves from falling victim to creatures’ bloodlust.
Who's In Charge Here?
As such, the game series seems perfectly suited for a horror movie spinoff. So perhaps it was no surprise that in 2015, Warner Bros. announced a Five Nights at Freddy’s movie.
At one point, Warner tapped Gil Kenan, who directed both Monster House and the 2015 remake of Poltergeist, to direct the Five Nights at Freddy’s project.
However, in a 2016 shakeup, Blumhouse, the production company behind films such as Get Out and The Purge, acquired the rights. The following year, the company announced that Christopher Columbus, known for films such as Mrs. Doubtfire, Home Alone and the first two films in the Harry Potter series, would direct the film, joining Five Nights at Freddy's creator Scott Cawthon and Blumhouse’s Jason Blum as co-producer.
In August 2018, in response to a question on Twitter, Blum said that he expected the team would release the film in 2020.
Script Changes And Further Delays
However, just months later, in November, 2018, Cawthon posted an update on a Steam message board revealing that the team had opted to delay the Five Nights at Freddy’s movie.
“OK guys, I had a script written; Jason liked it, and Chris Columbus liked it too, but I tossed it. I had a different idea for it, one that I liked better. I take responsibility for this delay; it’s my fault,” he wrote.
“It’s been a real challenge for everyone, including myself, to come up with a good screenplay for this. But I’m determined to find the right story. I’m sticking to what I’ve always said, either the right movie gets made or no movie gets made.”
Additionally, he shared that the film would reflect the game’s universe as portrayed in the first three games in the series.
“The games after Five Nights at Freddy's 3 will not exist in the movie universe. Like it or hate it, I felt that this was the best portion of the storyline to really focus in on,” he wrote.
Stuck In Limbo
After another period of no news, in March of this year, Blum shared the status of the film in response to a Q&A on Twitter, though it offered little additional insight.
“We haven’t been able to get script right on 5 nights but I now think we are getting really close,” he said at the time.
IMDB continues to list Five Nights at Freddy’s as currently undergoing a rewrite, though the most recent update for the film’s page was in November 2018. Additionally, the page lists a rather vague synopsis.
“Based on the popular horror video game, a man starts a job working as a night watch security guard at the restaurant Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, where he discovers the animatronics move at night and will kill anyone they see,” it reads.
As the timeline drags on, fans are beginning to question whether the film will ever happen.
While overall enthusiasm for the game series remains high, a full slate of projects from both Blumhouse and Cawthon seem to hint at the fact that the film may not be the highest priority.
A few days ago, Cawthon, alongside developers at Clickteam, released a remastered version of the original Five Nights at Freddy’s on iOS. And, back in May, critics went wild over Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted in VR, which Cawthon released with the help of Steel Wool Productions.
Blumhouse lists productions slated through 2021 on IMDB. Given that the film is not on the list of productions that already have release dates, it seems unlikely fans will see a Five Nights at Freddy’s movie anytime before 2021.
Even once the producers finally give the script the green light, they still must make decisions around casting, locations and budget. And, with no news as to these items, a Five Nights at Freddy’s movie could be as far away as 2022 — if it happens at all.
Would The Movie Even Be Good?
While fans can appreciate that Cawthon and team want to get the film adaptation right, the struggle to bring the story to life in a purely cinematic format may be telling. After all, without the gameplay, it’s hard to know whether a tale about killer animatronic robots has legs to stand on at all. Even with a rich world of lore within the Five Nights at Freddy's franchise, these elements don't always transition well to the big screen.
This wouldn’t be the first time companies have banked on live action adaptations of video games, not all of which have been successful.
It’s possible that big-budget investments and high stakes at the production level are driving the film away from the game’s original inception as a fun, weird, low-budget horror title.
After this long of a wait, it may be better for fans to pull their eyes away from this one and admit that it might be lights out on a Five Nights at Freddy’s film.