Josh Hutcherson Reveals Whether Five Nights At Freddy's 2 Is Happening

2023's "Five Nights at Freddy's" had an incredible run at the box office, grossing $289 million worldwide. Considering how the video game series it's based on has various installments, a sequel seems likely, and the film's star, Josh Hutcherson, has shared what he knows about a prospective follow-up.

In the film, Hutcherson plays security guard Mike Schmidt, who battles murderous animatronics while protecting his little sister, Abby (Piper Rubio). When speaking with Variety, the actor said a sequel script is being worked on, but that's pretty much all he knows: "I know they're in the process right now of nailing down the story, and they want to get going as soon as possible."

He continued by saying the horror movie's success came as a shock. "I don't think that anybody, even on our side of things, expected it to really connect the way that it did. I'm dying to get back on set. Emma Tammi, our director, was fantastic, and it was such a fun world to play in. I'm excited to see what they are doing next." Hutcherson's Mike survives the end of "Five Nights at Freddy's," so he could very well factor into the sequel, along with some more victims for Freddy Fazbear and his pals. 

While "Five Nights at Freddy's" making a ton of money was a pleasant surprise, it was always assumed it would be a big enough hit to warrant a sequel. Around the time the movie was released, Variety interviewed director Emma Tammi about prospects for the film franchise's future, to which she said, "This one was tied into the first game, and we would probably focus on tying the second one into the second game, and so on and so forth. But anything could happen. We'll have to see."

The "Five Nights at Freddy's 2" video game has a similar plot to the first, where a security guard is hired to oversee the defunct restaurant but soon learns the animatronics are out to get him. However, this time around, the guard's name is Jeremy Fitzgerald. It makes sense Mike Schmidt wouldn't be jumping at the opportunity to visit Freddy Fazbear's Pizza again, so the next movie may give someone else protagonist duties. But that doesn't mean Mike can't appear in some capacity, maybe to help them when things get a little squirrely. 

Of course, a film sequel could always go in a vastly different direction compared to what happened in the source material. According to Josh Hutcherson, they're still working on the story, so the creatives may attempt to advance the plot without repeating what was done in the first. But there are plenty of narrative elements to pull from the games.