The day a lot of fans of the Five Nights at Freddy’s video game franchise were probably worrying would never come along has finally arrived: the film adaptation has officially started filming! This adaptation was originally set up at Warner Bros., where Gil Kenan (Monster House) was going to direct the film from a screenplay he was writing with Tyler Burton Smith (the Child’s Play remake). Then the project moved over to Blumhouse, where Chris Columbus (Home Alone) was attached to direct it for several years. But now it has gone into production with Emma Tammi – director of The Wind, Into the Dark: Delivered, and Into the Dark: Blood Moon – at the helm, working from a screenplay she wrote with Seth Cuddeback (Mateo) and video game creator Scott Cawthon.
The Five Nights at Freddy’s video game takes place in Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, a darker version of Chuck-E-Cheese, where an animatronic animal band performs kiddy songs by day, and goes on murderous rampages by night. The goal of the game is survive a night locked inside, knowing that a furry death machine might jump out of the dark at any moment.
The film version stars Matthew Lillard (Scream), Josh Hutcherson (The Hunger Game), and Mary Stuart Masterson (Benny & Joon).
Five Nights at Freddy’s is being produced by Blumhouse, in association with Striker Entertainment. Cawthon is a producer alongside Blumhouse founder Jason Blum. Russell Binder is executive producing. Jim Henson’s Creature Shop is handling the special effects that will bring the homicidal animatronic animals to life on the screen.
Blum confirmed the start of filming on Twitter:
Are you glad to hear that Five Nights at Freddy’s is finally filming after spending the better part of a decade in development hell? Let us know by leaving a comment below. I have never played a Five Nights at Freddy’s video game, but I’m very interested to see how this movie is going to turn out. Especially since Willy’s Wonderland didn’t quench my thirst to see animatronic creatures go on a killing spree. It was fun, I liked watching Nicolas Cage knock those creatures around, but I need to see more.