Poltergeist director Gil Kenan moves on to Five Nights at Freddy’s

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

The recently released remake of POLTERGEIST didn't make much of an impact, but it wasn't a failure, at this point having pulled in nearly $100 million at the worldwide box office. The director of that film, Gil Kenan, has now secured his next gig, one which will see him continuing to work within the horror genre: Warner Bros. has chosen him to helm the live action adaptation of the app game FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY'S.

The game

takes place in a Chuck-E-Cheese-like eatery, where an animatronic animal that is part of the house band becomes a murderer at night. Players who’ve been locked inside try to survive the rampaging murder machine and his furry cohorts.

I had never heard of FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY'S before the movie was announced (and have never played any app games), but it certainly sounds like a fun concept.

Kenan will also be writing the screenplay with Tyler Burton Smith. Roy Lee, Seth Grahame-Smith, and David Katzenberg are producing the film, with Adam Stone and Jay Ireland executive producing and Jon Berg and Nik Mavinkurve overseeing the project for WB.

I didn't see Kenan's POLTERGEIST, turned away by word that it was just a Cliff's Notes version of the original, nor did I ever see his second film, CITY OF EMBER. All I have to go on with him is the quality of his feature directorial debut, MONSTER HOUSE, with which he showed a lot of promise. FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY'S has my attention now that I know what it is, and I'm looking forward to seeing how Kenan handles it.