Jason Blum Gives Fans An Update On The Five Nights At Freddy's Movie

At first glance, Scott Cawthon's "Five Nights at Freddy's" might not seem as though it would be a game worthy of an ongoing, extremely successful franchise. It's concept is simple: You play the night watchman at a children's establishment akin to Chuck E Cheese's (or, if you're old enough to remember, Showbiz Pizza). Your job is to keep an eye out for the establishment's animal mascots who just so happen to be alive and trying to kill you.

At the time of the first game's release in 2014, it felt like it would be just another jump scare game in the same vein as "Slender: The Arrival" which had come out only the year before. However, with 10 main games in the series, multiple spin-offs, novels, and merchandise by the ton, it's clear that "Five Nights at Freddy's" has a degree of staying power that most video game (or movie) franchises don't.

Speaking of movies, a film based on the Freddy's world has always felt inevitable (and there's already been an off-brand version, starring Nicolas Cage no less, called "Willy's Wonderland," which released in February of this year). However, there is supposed to be an official movie adaptation of "Five Night's at Freddy's" on the way — we just haven't heard anything about it for a while. Thankfully, Blumhose CEO Jason Blum recently offered an official update on the project, though the news is a bit mixed, depending on your outlook.

The most major update on the "Five Nights at Freddy's" movie isn't the happiest one, but it is certainly worth knowing. Initial reports on the projects stated that it would be directed by Chris Columbus, of "Home Alone" and "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" fame. 

However, in a new interview with Collider, Jason Blum revealed that is not the case anymore. "Chris Columbus is no longer attached," says Blum. As for whether a new director is already on board? "That is classified information," he says.

That's not the only thing Blum revealed about the status of "Five Nights at Freddy's," though, saying that getting the script right is the project's first priority. He added, "We've written multiple scripts, and we've got where we're threading a needle, which is doing justice to 'Five Nights at Freddy's' and making Scott [Cawthorn] happy," Blum says. "I don't have the right to do anything Scott doesn't like. Basically, Scott has kind of like the equivalent of 'final cut' and it's taken longer than I hoped to get the right story."

It's interesting to hear that a game creator would have as much control over a film project as Cawthorn appears to, especially given how common it's been historically for video game movies to bear little resemblance to their original game counterparts.

"We're a long way from giving up," Blum insists. "And I'm confident eventually I will figure it out."