Per a report from Deadline, two big stars have officially joined the cast of the film rendition of the iconic Five Nights at Freddy’s video game. Josh Hutcherson (Hunger Games) and Matthew Lillard (Scream) are both on board to play presumably notable characters from the game, however, the names of said characters have not been disclosed. They are the first two actors to join the movie’s cast, which is not set to begin production until February 2023.
Aside from The Hunger Games, Hutcherson is known for his work in Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, Red Dawn, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and The Disaster Artist. Likewise, Lillard has worked on several notable films, including his time as Shaggy in the live-action Scooby-Doo adaptations, SLC Punk!, and The Descendants.
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The Animatronic Horror Phenomena
Five Nights at Freddy’s is a simple point-and-click survival horror video game created and developed by Scott Cawthon that grew from a blip on the indie game scene in late 2014 to an absolute phenomenon almost overnight. This was thanks almost entirely to content creators on YouTube, such as Markiplier, Dawko, and JackSepticEye, who streamed themselves playing the game on their respective channels. The fan feedback they received cumulatively was overwhelmingly positive, and the first game was subsequently downloaded well over a million times on Steam alone.
This led to Cawthon developing multiple sequels, each stylistically unique but with the same basic premise. More and more creators on YouTube loyally followed and streamed each and every title he released. He also wrote multiple novels, expanding on the game’s “universe and the staggering amount of lore developed by both Cawthon and fans alike. Over time, the game series became an actual franchise, spawning countless spinoff games developed by fans of the original titles, as well as an avalanche of collectible merchandise released by mega-brands like Funko. The original game that started it has also been released on other platforms, including iOS/Android mobile, Playstation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.
The Five Nights at Freddy’s film is being helmed by Blumhouse Productions, with Emma Tammi as the director, Jason Blum producing, and creator Scott Cawthon working alongside both of them on writing and directing. Jim Henson’s Creature Shop also signed on to construct all the animatronics, meaning that CGI will interestingly not be at the forefront for the story’s deadliest characters.
The film encountered multiple roadblocks since its conceptual announcement back in 2015 when Warner Bros had the rights to the project. After WB dropped the project due to budget conflicts and creative differences, Scott Cawthon did multiple rewrites of the screenplay over the next few years, with directors like Chris Columbus coming and going. After so long, the FNAF creator finally achieved a script that he was satisfied with, and with the green light from Tammi and Blumhouse, production finally got back on track.
