Scott Cawthon, creator of the Five Nights at Freddy's franchise, recently revealed the movie adaptation will finally begin filming in spring 2021. The film is based on the popular video games and novels of the same name. The series began with the first game in 2014, where players worked as a security guard at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, fighting deadly animatronic characters who come to life after the restaurant closes. In the six years since its release, the original Five Nights at Freddy's game has spawned several sequels and spinoffs, as well as many books.
Considering the franchise's popularity, it's no wonder a film adaptation was first considered in 2015. However, since then, the project has languished in development, going through multiple directors and scripts. Things began to pick up a bit of a steam in 2017, when production giant Blumhouse came into the picture. However, a year later, the planned screenplay had been scrapped, essentially taking the Five Nights at Freddy's movie back to square one. After a couple years with no news, producer Jason Blum offered a promising update in June 2020, saying progress on the film was rapidly moving forward. Blum spoke about Five Nights at Freddy's again earlier this month, calling the story "the big challenge."
Now, Cawthon has shared arguably the most exciting news about the movie yet. Posting on Reddit over the weekend, the creator teased fans by saying he had bad news about the Five Nights at Freddy's film. In a lengthy message, he detailed the many screenplays considered over the years, dubbing the last one "the 'Mike' screenplay." Cawthorn said about that script, "It's fun, it's scary, and it has a great central story," before revealing, "the bad news is that there won't be any more screenplays to add to this list since we're officially making the 'Mike' screenplay." He then shared the movie will begin filming in the spring.
This is big news for Five Nights at Freddy's fans. At this point, they've been waiting for a film adaption nearly since the first game's release. The development process for the movie has been especially brutal, considering it seemed close to filming several times over the years. Cawthon's announcement is also a fun surprise considering its timing. Blum made his comments about the movie's story only a couple weeks ago, which led many to assume the script was still being workshopped. Instead, it sounds like Cawthon and those working on Five Nights at Freddy's are excited about the screenplay they have and are eager to begin shooting next year.
The spring start date is good for a couple reasons. One, it gives the movie a little space from the coronavirus, hopefully ensuring it's able to start filming without incident. Along those same lines, it also means a release date is more likely to stick. Horror fans have already experienced disappointment this year with the delays of A Quite Place Part II and fellow Blumhouse movie Halloween Kills. Considering the lengthy development process Five Nights at Freddy's has already undergone, further delays would be especially unfortunate.
Source: Scott Cawthon/Reddit