The Untold Truth Of The Five Nights At Freddy's Movie

"Five Nights at Freddy's" brings a whole new meaning to the phrase "killer pizza." The survival-horror video game series has spawned a fanbase more rabid than the nearest haunted animatronic teddy bear, its own hit kids' book franchise, and now — at long last — a movie adaptation.

Whether you're a dyed-in-the-steel-wool fan of the "FnaF" games, or just got sucked in because of the bad robot vibes and catchy song in the teaser trailer, there is plenty of madness and mayhem behind the making of the "Five Nights at Freddy's" movie. So much, in fact, that it might just make friendly neighborhood antagonist William Afton proud.

Gruesome gossip, bone-chilling lore, and a creative mastermind who will stop at nothing to fulfill his own twisted vision, for better or worse — are we talking about the creation of the "Five Nights at Freddy's" movie, or the plot of the games themselves? Settle in for the night shift and try to survive the untold truth of the "Five Nights at Freddy's" movie — if you dare. Spoilers for the "Five Nights at Freddy's" game and book series follow.

"Five Nights at Freddy's" is a popular horror video game franchise originally created by indie developer Scott Cawthon. The first "FNAF" game was released for PC in 2014, and its massive success led to multiple sequels, spin-offs, and fan mods. There have also been a series of books set in the "FNAF" universe that expands on the franchise's deep lore (to varying degrees of canonicity). After over a decade stuck in development hell, Blumhouse Productions will be releasing a big-budget feature film adaptation of "FNAF" in 2023, directed by Emma Tammi ("The Wind") and starring Josh Hutcherson, Mary Stuart Masterson, and Matthew Lillard.

The first game was a first-person point-and-click horror game where the players take on the role of a down-on-their-luck security guard stuck looking at security monitors in the rundown Chuck E. Cheese-inspired "Freddy Fazbear's Pizza." During the first few nights, the player is given instructions by an unnamed predecessor who tells them about the dangers of the gig — namely that the creepy animatronics will walk around the closed restaurant at night, taking every opportunity to kill them. The player's only course of action is to close the doors when they're near, only they can't keep the doors shut, otherwise they lose power and become defenseless.

Later sequels expanded greatly on this admittedly simple premise, including skipping around to different time periods, finding hidden mini-games that reveal story secrets, and creating an almost-Shakespearean familial drama that seemingly drives the whole plot.

At this point, the indie video game series "Five Nights at Freddy's" might be one of the most recognizable horror franchises in the world. While there are many things to praise about "FNAF" — such as its simple yet effective gameplay, creepy and dense lore, and perfectly timed jump scares — most of its success can be attributed to the great designs of the animatronic antagonists in the game, including the eponymous Freddy Fazbear.

However, it can also be attributed directly to Cawthon's biggest initial failure. The frightening designs that have scared many players can be traced back to a cutesy game, where the characters' off-putting and creepy visages were completely accidental.

That game was a free-to-play mobile game Cawthon designed called "Chipper & Sons Lumber Co.," which was meant to be fun and kid-friendly, but the aforementioned character designs were criticized for being scary rather than endearing. Cawthon had been making wholesome Christian games prior to that, but the reception to "Chipper & Sons Lumber Co." seems to be what caused him to pivot to horror games. While initially discouraged, the criticism of Cawthon's "cute" character designs may have been a blessing in disguise, if merch sales and big-budget Hollywood film adaptations are anything to go by.

"Five Nights at Freddy's" was pretty much a hit right out the gate when it came out, praised for its foreboding atmosphere, unique creature designs, and elegant and effective gameplay. While obviously frightening, the lack of actual gore — as well as some campily comedic touches, such as creator Scott Cawthon's overwhelmed vocal performance as "Phone Guy" — allowed it to be safe enough for younger audiences, who are a big part of its fanbase.

Hollywood, of course, saw dollar signs and attempted to get to work on adapting it in earnest in 2015, just a year after the first game's release. Gil Kenan, who had helmed the 2015 "Poltergeist" remake, was the first director attached, with Seth Grahame-Smith ("Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter") listed as a producer. Eventually, both Kenan and Grahame-Smith left the project due to the constant delays on Cawthon's part.

Then, Blumhouse Productions bought the rights to the game and hired Chris Columbus ("Home Alone") to write and direct, who was apparently a big fan of the game. However, he too eventually left the project after many re-writes and do-overs of the film's script.

Finally, director Emma Tammi finally got the gig off the strength of her feature film debut, 2018's "The Wind."

A film adaptation of the "Five Nights at Freddy's" video games will live or die by the quality of the film's depictions of its monstrous animatronics. They have to look accurate to the games, while also being believable as the cute and cuddly mascots of the Chuck E. Cheese-esque Freddy Fazbear's Pizza restaurant during its hey-day, and — most importantly — be legitimately scary during its horror sequences. That's no easy task.

Luckily, the famous Jim Henson Creature Shop — named after the famed puppeteer himself — will be the ones responsible for creating Freddy Fazbear and his friends in the "Five Nights at Freddy's" movie from Blumhouse.

The Jim Henson company, of course, should need no introduction, as they were the geniuses behind the creation of "The Muppets," the puppet denizens of "Sesame Street," the fantasy creatures in "Labyrinth," and the '90s "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles." Kudos to Blumhouse for not going the CGI route with them, and hopefully, the rest of the film is as good as the character designs.

"The Five Nights at Freddy's" series, despite its humble beginnings, actually has a surprisingly epic and densely-packed lore that spans many decades. For instance, there is ample evidence that the first game is set in the mid-'90s. This includes the date on a check — Friday, November 12^th – which even though there's no year shown, narrows it down to 1993, due to that being the only time that day, month, and date all coincided during the games' timeline. The minimum wage on the check — $4/hour — fits that era as well. This also means that the film could be a period piece as well.

"FNAF 2," unlike the first game, is explicitly set in 1987. Furthermore, we see in the film trailer a screaming security guard — presumably "FNAF 2" protagonist Jeremy Fitzgerald — potentially depicting the infamous "bite of '87" that is constantly being mentioned throughout the series.

Finally, in the film trailer, we see Matthew Lillard as William Afton and a possible shadow of his later postmortem form, Springtrap. If true, we could be seeing Afton as a human in the flashbacks and Springtrap throughout the rest of the film. This would also mean the film is merging game continuities since Springtrap doesn't become a true antagonist until "FNAF 3."

In the first "Five Nights at Freddy's" game, the down-on-his-luck security guard players control is named Mike Schmidt, who will be played in the film by Josh Hutcherson. At the end of the first game (assuming you don't die in the interim), it is mentioned that Schmidt was fired for messing with the killer animatronics, and that's supposedly the last we ever hear of him.

However, there's a popular fan theory that many "FNAF" die-hards subscribe to, which states that Mike Schmidt and Michael Afton are the same person. Now who is Michael Afton? Well, in the games Michael Afton is the son of the deranged antagonist William Afton a.k.a Springtrap, and the protagonist of "FNAF: Sister Location," where Michael Afton makes his first official appearance.

The evidence for this (beyond the fact that both characters are named "Mike"), seems to mostly stem from ancillary material. For instance, the activity book "Survival Logbook" — which is made to look like an instruction manual for "Freddy Fazbear Pizza" security guards — is said to have been owned by "Mike," no last name. In the games, only Mike Schmidt is known to work at "Fazbear's Pizza," but the "Survival Logbook" also mentions events of the aforementioned "Sister Location" sequel, set thirty years later, that only Michael Afton would know.

Luckily, it seems like the movie might confirm — or debunk — this fan theory by the end.

As in many popular horror franchises — including "It" and "The Exorcist" — death and tragedy befalling innocent children is a common plot point. In fact, despite the lack of much gore in "Five Nights at Freddy's," the gruesome story of murdered children getting their dead bodies (and later souls) stuffed into monstrous animatronics more than makes up for it. The child death count is surprisingly pretty high for a horror franchise that skews younger than most.

One such child victim that gets particular attention in the "FNAF" series is unnamed (outside of fan speculation), dubbed "The Crying Child." He is the main character you play in "Five Nights at Freddy's 4," whose backstory is revealed through Atari-esque mini-games. According to lore, Crying Child was bullied by his older brother at a "Freddy Fazbear's Pizza," who was then bitten by an erratic Fazbear animatronic, eventually dying.

In a (since deleted) social media post, the actor playing "Young Mike" — Wyatt M. Parker — posted the words "Nice to see my little brother again!" on a picture of him with actor Lucas Grant. There are many fans who theorize that The Crying Child is Michael Afton's little brother, and if Michael Schmidt and Afton are indeed the same person, that means that Mike accidentally killing his brother could also be the tragedy that makes him "riddled with guilt over a tragedy in his past," as described in casting breakdowns via Geek Vibes Nation.

Like a lot of horror game franchises, such as "Resident Evil" and "Silent Hill," the various "Five Nights at Freddy's" sequels usually follow different protagonists in each entry (albeit with some eventually returning). This means that while Mike Schmidt is the main character in the original "Five Nights at Freddy's," the other playable characters in the franchise include the ill-fated security guard Jeremy Fitzgerald in "Five Nights at Freddy's 2," and the Crying Child in "Five Nights at Freddy's 4."

Then in 2019, "Five Nights at Freddy's: Help Wanted" was released, and it was eventually revealed that the game's protagonist was the female security guard Vanessa. She then becomes the antagonist in 2021's "Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach," having been corrupted by yet another incarnation of the evil William Afton. It's rumored that the police officer Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail) is the same Vanessa from the games, especially since she "has a keen understanding of the dark history and inner workings of the restaurant (via Geek Vibes Nation)."

If true, it remains to be seen if she'll share the same fate as the video game counterpart, or if they'll do something different with the character since they are already changing her from a security guard to a police officer. It would also prove that the film will be merging continuities together, given that "Help Wanted" and "Security Breach" happened much later than the first game chronologically.

It's no secret that Hollywood has been notoriously bad at adapting video games for some reason. From turning the live-action "Super Mario Bros." film into a dystopian cyberpunk thriller, to whatever Uwe Boll thought he was doing in "House of the Dead," video game movies have been rightly maligned for most of their existence. Only recently have they been getting regular commercial and critical success.

"Five Nights at Freddy's" creator Scott Cawthon eventually discussed candidly on Reddit (or at least as candidly as he was legally allowed to) the lengthy production process and constant delays plaguing the highly-anticipated "FNAF" feature film adaptation. Cawthon also revealed the various script ideas that were pitched (then later rejected), before landing on the final script used as the basis for the Blumhouse version hitting theaters and streaming in 2023.

And, apparently, the first script written without Cawthon's involvement was dubbed by him "The F Script." Here's the synopsis: "[a] group of teenage trouble-makers break into Freddy's; chaos ensues."

As Cawthon says, there's no mention of any main characters from the games (i.e. standard "teens enter spooky place") and it seems much too generic of a premise for a "FNAF" film. Furthermore, that means it would be yet another film adaptation of a video game to add unnecessary original protagonists to the story, like Alice in the "Resident Evil" films, or Cole Young from the 2021 "Mortal Kombat" reboot. Luckily, Cawthon passed on it.

The popularity of the "Five Nights at Freddy's" video games has helped it grow beyond the games themselves, from the upcoming movie to toys, clothes, and even a long-running book series.

For instance, there is "The Silver Eyes," co-written by Kira Breed-Wrisley alongside "FNAF" creator Scott Cawthon, whose involvement gives the book some legitimacy. However, "The Silver Eyes" doesn't follow the exact continuity of the games. It follows the character of Charlotte, who returns to her hometown years after a deadly tragedy involving the cursed Freddy Fazbear's Pizza restaurant. Charlotte then meets up with her old friends, and they decide to visit Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, which — in classic horror story fashion — leads to them all getting chased and almost killed by the possessed animatronics.

While "The Silver Eyes" was admittedly just an ancillary tie-in book, it was probably chosen by Cawthon as the spine of the possible film adaptation due to the fact that it already had characters with emotional arcs, clear motivations, and enough dialogue to adapt into a script. It seems, on paper, like it would be an easier translation to the big screen, especially considering the fact that the games have mostly silent protagonists that let the players become immersed in the world and horror themselves.

However, as this was Cawthon's first attempt at screenwriting, the various early drafts weren't very good, even by his own admission (via Reddit).

Paranormal shows like "Ghost Hunters" and "Ghost Adventures" were a dime-a-dozen in the mid-00s due to their low production costs and easy-to-produce spectacle (it's unsurprisingly really cheap to have people act scared about discovering standard electrical interference happening in electrical devices).

But this style was undeniably popular for a time, and it seems like this was the direction they were initially planning to take the "Five Nights at Freddy's" movie. According to Cawthon, the story was about "[a] group of amateur ghost-trackers [who] sneak into the abandoned Freddy's."

Like the first attempt at adapting "FNAF" into a film — the ill-fated "F Script" — the "ghost tracker" version of the story focused on original characters instead of figures from the games. To be fair, it does seem like there was some sort of logic to this version, but it ultimately strayed too much from the game's lore. Cawthon agreed, stating: "though a very common-sense setup for this sort of movie ... What ended up happening was too much of the story went to their own backstories and their own hardships, and it took the spotlight away from the story of Freddy's."

Another script treatment that was pitched before "Five Nights at Freddy's" creator Scott Cawthon got officially involved, was described by the creator on Reddit simply as the "'plushies take Manhattan' version."

Not much is known about this take, as according to Cawthon the plot was also just "plushies take Manhattan." Furthermore, Cawthon seemed very displeased with it, stating the problem with this version was "plushies take Manhattan." It was then "burned with fire."

If we had to guess, it seems like it would have a "monsters on rampage in the city"-type movie, and probably wouldn't have the same claustrophobic feel of the games, which is a great part of its appeal. Large walking animatronics would be admittedly scary and off-putting in any situation, to be sure; however, in a city situation, it's much easier to find ways to run away and escape from the lumbering robots. Being trapped in a rundown pizzeria — or a children's bedroom — makes escape much more harrowing and difficult. Also, this type of narrative speaks to a different type of horror than what "FNAF" is known for, as Freddy Fazbear and his friends are mostly creepy rather than being outright violent monsters going out of their way to kill people left and right. All things considered, the death count in "FNAF" is relatively low. In fact, in most canonical endings, the protagonists are usually fired rather than killed anyway.

Down-on-his-luck regular-guy Mike (Josh Hutcherson) is searching for a job, any job. He finds a seemingly easy one: working night security at a defunct pizza party joint called Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. The guy who hires Mike, Steve Raglan (Matthew Lillard), admits that, despite the '80s-era restaurant being long-closed, "the owner's just not ready to let it go yet."

Mike is late on his rent, so he kisses any spidey sense he might have about derelict properties with a past goodbye and heads out for his first shift. He takes along his kid sister Abby, and we know right away from how cute she is and how much her big brother loves her that she will be in life-threatening danger before long.

That danger comes in the form of Freddy Fazbear's star attractions: a band of broken-down animal animatronics who once sang happy songs — and now, apparently, are out for child blood. If Mike can't figure out how to stop them, he might not survive his "Five Nights at Freddy's" — and neither will his little sister, Abby.

"Five Nights at Freddy's" game creator and movie co-screenwriter Scott Cawthon has long been vocal about keeping the movie something the fanbase will want to see — but who, exactly, is that? "FNaF" games have a die-hard following online, mostly men now in their 20s and 30s. However, anyone who's walked through any place that sells books has seen the haunting, withered faces of the Fazbear animatronics staring up from the kids' section. The movie has a killer cast with an indie horror director at the helm — and might just pull off appealing to fans old, young, and new.

There's a campy, heartfelt energy on display in the "Five Nights at Freddy's" trailer, and no shortage of jumpscares. It looks and feels like a delightful mix of the horror-comedy of "Chucky", and the spooky lore at work in "Nightmare on Elm Street." There is plenty of winking at the camera, as well as hints of an earnest redemption quest at the heart of the film stuffed with "ghost children possessing giant robots."

"Five Nights at Freddy's" could capitalize on the family-friendly horror audience that follows "Stranger Things" — or its attempts to appeal to a bigger cross-section of horror fans than the gaming fanbase could lead to unmitigated disaster. Our prediction is the film will land somewhere near "M3GAN" on the scary versus silly scale and stands a good chance of becoming a horror hit that might take us all by surprise.

Emma Tammi came onto the "Five Nights at Freddy's" movie in October 2022 (via Variety), but the movie is far from her first horror rodeo. The director first made a name for herself by co-directing "Fair Chase," a documentary about extreme runners

Tammi cut her thriller teeth directing Tessa Thompson and Aml Ameen in QCODE Media's podcast, "The Left Right Game." Tammi's horror feature, a horror western called "The Wind", was also her feature directing debut. The San Francisco Chronicle's G. Allen Johnson called the film "indie horror at its best," and singled out Tammi's work for special praise.

Blumhouse's Jason Blum has also been very complimentary of Tammi's cinema skills. "With Emma Tammi at the helm, we're committed to making Scott's vision of the movie come to life," he told The Hollywood Reporter in 2022, when Tammi's involvement with "FNaF" was announced. He went on to add, "Rest assured, it will be and is worth the wait." 

Tammi co-wrote the script for the 2023 "Five Nights at Freddy's" movie with the game creator himself, Scott Cawthon, as well as Seth Cuddeback, another indie filmmaker. Here's hoping their final script is truly a scream.

The "Five Nights at Freddy's" movie has already lived (and died) many times before even hitting the screen. Almost a decade has passed since its initial film announcement in 2015, to the completed film, due out in 2023. The film has changed literal and figurative creative hands throughout that process. One of the lost directors of the film is Chris Columbus — but why? Wouldn't the "FNaF" production want to do anything in its power to keep the man behind the magic of both "Gremlins," "Home Alone", and the first "Harry Potter" film attached to their PG-13 animatronic horrorshow?

In 2018, Deadline reported that Columbus had signed on to write and direct "FNaF." But producer Jason Blum confirmed to Collider that Columbus had left the project as of 2021. While Columbus has not made an official public statement, Blum told Collider, "I don't have the right to do anything Scott doesn't like."

As detailed by Cawthon's extensive gripes with script drafts he listed on Reddit in 2020, there have been plenty of scripts he didn't like along the way. "Scott has kind of like the equivalent of 'final cut' and it's taken longer than I hoped to get the right story," Blum added to Collider. Of course, Cawthon liked one script enough to co-write it himself — the script for the "Five Nights at Freddy's" movie making its debut in October 2023. Not one to rest on his horror laurels, Columbus is one of the producers of Robert Eggers' "Nosferatu." Columbus is also reportedly in development (pre-strike) on "Gremlins 3", per his IMDb page.

Matthew Lillard chews the scenery in the "Five Nights at Freddy's" trailer as the sniveling and sweater-vested career counselor, Steve Raglan. Steve, AKA not-so-secret serial killer William Afton — clearly knows (and is) the sinister truth behind the demise of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. Lillard makes a real meal of the role, even in the trailer.

Lillard is no stranger to dangerous roles. He was the sneaky Stu Macher in "Scream", and the destined for destruction Dennis Rafkin in "13 Ghosts." He can also hold it down in a cartoony franchise, as evidenced by his work as Shaggy in "Scooby-Doo" and "Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters and Mayhem." So Lillard is more than ready to spend every night he can surviving Freddy's.

Oh yeah. At least for three movies, he is. Lillard casually dropped that he signed a three-picture deal for "FNaF" via a YouTube interview with WeeklyMTG — a Magic: The Gathering show. If Lillard nerds out even half as much about his role in "FNaF" as he does his epic company, Beadle & Grimm's, merch — "Five Nights at Freddy's" is going to be a veritable all-you-can-eat pizza buffet of acting riches.

"Five Nights at Freddy's" isn't the first time actor Josh Hutcherson has worked long hours somewhere sketchy. Hutcherson is a familiar face for his starring role as janitor Josh Futturman in "Future Man", a show about a man beating an unbeatable video game, who is then joined by its main characters in a quest to truly change the future. Hutcherson is also well-known as the hard-working Peeta Mellark in "The Hunger Games."

Hutcherson's capacity for playing heartache, comedy, and duplicity well makes his casting as Mike Schmidt in "FNaF" extra exciting. He's far from a humdrum lead and makes viewers feel for him and his plight, even in the trailer.

Of course, he's also capable of playing to seemingly villainous and surprising strengths, like when he's charming the blue hair off of Stanley Tucci's Caesar Flickerman in "The Hunger Games" — and making Katniss doubt whether his love for her is real, or all a show for his own survival. Hutcherson is sure to bring similar nail-biting tension techniques to "Five Nights at Freddy's."

Elizabeth Lail stars as Vanessa in "Five Nights at Freddy's", the seemingly sympathetic cop who introduces herself to Mike Schmidt one rainy night — before, of course, spilling the tea on the killer animatronics and their spine-tingling backstory.

Fans may recognize Lail from her roles on "Once Upon a Time," "Mack & Rita," and as the first object of Joe's psychotic obsession in "You." Ah, Guinevere Beck. We knew ye well.

Now, call us cynical, call us old-fashioned, but definitely don't call us immediately trusting of the one person in town who seems to know everything about the ghost children operating the animatronics from beyond their unjust graves. Even newcomers to the "FNaF" franchise might smell a rat with all of Vanessa's helpful hints. Is she Mike's friend — or foe? Even if "FNaF" message boards light up with speculation, the movie adaptation could go in any direction, however diabolical that may be.

A large measure of the "Five Nights at Freddy's" games' success can be attributed to spirited playthrough videos posted by the YouTube gaming community. There are seemingly countless "FNaF" playthrough videos on sites like YouTube and Twitch. So it only makes sense that the "FNaF" movie looked to its gaming social media roots when it came to some stunt casting.

YouTube stars 8-bit Ryan, Baz, Dawko, FusionZGamer, and CoryxKenshin (as the cab driver) pop up in the FNAF trailer, and there might be even more in the full, finished film.

If you're a YouTube junkie yourself, these handles might have you amped. If these names mean nothing to you, but have inspired a sense of panic and feeling old, worry not. You can be excited about Matthew Lillard — and can explain who he is to the nearest young person as they explain to you what a "let's play" is.

"Five Nights at Freddy's" creator Scott Cawthon stepped away from the "Freddy" gaming franchise in 2021, seemingly due to controversy surrounding the public disclosure of his campaign donations in favor of anti-LGBTQIA politicians.

Cawthon made an attempt, through Reddit, to apologize to his LGBT fans for hurting them — but did not apologize for his donations. "I'd like to think that the last seven years would have given me the benefit of the doubt in regards to how I try to treat people," Cawthon wrote, "But there I was, trending on twitter for being a homophobe... If I get cancelled, then I get cancelled... If people think I'm doing more harm than good now, then maybe it's better that I get cancelled and retire."

Of course, Cawthon released a new game in 2021 and the "FNaF" movie he co-wrote is due out October 2023. Will his early "retirement" affect the course of further "FNaF" films, as it did the long journey of the first one from gaming screens to streaming screens? Only time will tell.

"Five Nights at Freddy's" is inspired by the look and feel of a true-life terror: one Charles Entertainment Cheese, AKA Chuck E. Cheese. The "Five Nights at Freddy's" animatronic characters are mighty fearsome on their own, but what do they really have on the unbroken, intense eye contact of '80s and '90s-era animatronic rock star animals — and one chef named Pasqually?

Chuck E. Cheese's is where a kid can be a kid, or scared of the giant creatures singing at them while they eat pizza, cake, and play some serious Skee-Ball. The place delighted (or haunted) kids celebrating their birthdays in the late '70s, '80s, and '90s, and exists in a much more stripped-down iteration today.

Unlike Freddy Fazbear's, Chuck E. never had any killer "Bite of '83" scenario — even if the fandom has tried to link some truly tragic events that happened at Chuck E. Cheese's into the lore of "FNaF." In real life, however, Chuck E. Cheese did start phasing out its own animatronic band in 2017, just two years after the "FNaF" movie was first announced. Even if the Chuck E. Cheese decision isn't officially related to the "FNaF" one, one can still speculate that the decision is absolutely inspired.