The Big Picture
- The Five Nights at Freddy’s movie adaptation is finally coming to the big screen after years of anticipation from fans.
- Director Emma Tammi collaborated closely with game creator Scott Cawthon throughout the production process.
- The movie’s plot revolves around protagonist Mike Schmidt discovering dark secrets within Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, including the disappearance of five children.
After almost a decade of the fan base expecting to see their favorite video game on the big screen, Five Nights at Freddy’s is ready to bring its best jump scares for Halloween. The game series the movie will be based on was created by Scott Cawthon, who has released many sequels set in the franchise since the original installment came out in 2014. During a recent interview with Collider’s Steve Weintraub, the director behind the upcoming film Emma Tammi spoke about the process of collaborating with Cawthon while making the movie:
“I was really, really happy to be having the feedback in real time if there was anything that we needed to adjust. But he said a very nice thing to me a couple of weeks into production, he was like, “I’m really sitting back and enjoying the movie and watching the story unfold on screen,” which was amazing because, of course, he didn’t know what to expect necessarily walking into it, and it was my time working with him, so I didn’t either in terms of actually shooting and being in communication. I think it was a fantastic process, but just a huge asset to have him in our corner because I don’t think we could have done an accurate adaptation of this game without him.”
The plot of the movie centers around Mike Schmidt, the character played by Josh Hutcherson who has the responsibility of taking care of his younger sister, Abby (Piper Rubio). After looking into various job offers, Mike isn’t accepted by any of them, when a golden opportunity finally grabs his attention. The abandoned Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza has an open position for the security guard on the night shift, and Mike is hired almost on the spot. Unfortunately, the young man could’ve never expected what he was going to find during his first week on the job.
The man who hires Mike is Steve Raglan (Matthew Lillard), an apparently friendly executive who looks like he’s hiding a dark secret. Trusting Mike to keep the animatronics and the abandoned restaurant safe, Raglan allows Hutcherson’s character with the keys to the business. But when Mike realizes that something is deeply wrong with the building, he meets Officer Vanessa Shelly (Elizabeth Lail). As seen in the second trailer for Five Nights at Freddy’s, Vanessa explains to Mike that five kids disappeared inside the Freddy’s location decades ago, and their bodies were never found.
Scott Cawthon’s Path to the Big Screen
Shortly after the release of the Five Nights at Freddy’s game, the title became extremely popular, and the question regarding a potential film adaptation entered the fandom’s mind. Warner Bros. was quick to buy the rights to the property, even selecting Gil Kenan to direct the project. But after development on the movie couldn’t move forward, Blumhouse became the new studio ready to enter the world of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. After a delay related to the pandemic, everything got back on track, and now the adaptation a few days away from hitting theaters. Knowing Tammi worked so closely with Cawthon for the adaptation should get fans even more excited to see the final product on the big screen.
Five Nights At Freddy’s hits theaters on October 27. Stay tuned at Collider for our full conversation with Tammi.
