The Five Nights At Freddy's Movie Made A Huge Sacrifice To Make Fans Happy
After the wild success achieved by the Five Nights At Freddy's game series, it was only a matter of time before it got adapted to a film. However, few were expecting it to take nearly as long as it did — including the filmmakers.
Transcript
00:00 After the wild success achieved by the Five Nights at Freddy's game series, it was only
00:04 a matter of time before it got adapted to a film.
00:07 However, few were expecting it to take nearly as long as it did, including the filmmakers.
00:13 Blumhouse Productions has had the rights to Scott Cawthon's ridiculously popular gaming
00:17 franchise Five Nights at Freddy's since 2017, but the road to the silver screen has been
00:23 difficult.
00:24 Harry Potter director Chris Columbus was originally slated to direct the film, but was eventually
00:29 replaced by Emma Tammy after he exited the project.
00:32 Then there was the controversy surrounding Cawthon's political donation history, which
00:36 caused him to retire from the Five Nights at Freddy's game franchise altogether.
00:41 Despite these complications, the film was already in production, so producer Jason Blum
00:45 had no choice but to see it through to the end.
00:47 According to IGN, even members of Blum's own company were unsure he could pull off making
00:51 the film, but he persevered despite the roadblocks and challenges.
00:56 With Five Nights at Freddy's just a few months away, we'll soon discover if the challenge,
01:00 which included writing an entirely new script, was overcome.
01:03 The premise of the original Five Nights at Freddy's game is relatively simple, with
01:07 players taking on the role of a night guard at the famed pizzeria and watching security
01:11 cameras to try and quell any dangerous activity from possessed animatronics.
01:16 By putting the player in the proverbial driver's seat, the game can generate big scares and
01:20 high tension due to the player's direct engagement with frightening situations.
01:24 As scary as horror movies can be, there's a safe distance between the viewer and the
01:28 screen.
01:29 That line gets blurred with horror video games, because the player takes an active role in
01:34 the story's direction.
01:35 For any filmmaker, finding a way to make that intimate relationship with horror from the
01:39 games translate to the screen would be no easy task.
01:43 According to Variety, Scott Cawthon has been pretty transparent with fans of the games
01:46 regarding the delays with filming.
01:48 He's even shouldered some of the blame himself, writing in a fan forum, "Okay guys, I had
01:53 a script written, Jason liked it, and Chris Columbus liked it too, but I tossed it.
01:57 I had a different idea for it, one that I liked better.
02:00 I take responsibility for this delay.
02:02 It's my fault."
02:03 Cawthon is acutely aware of how long fans have been waiting for the film, but wanted
02:07 to ensure that the final product would be worth the wait.
02:10 Understandably, the filmmakers are under a lot of pressure to do right by Five Nights
02:14 at Freddy's' passionate fan base, so there was no way anyone on the creative team was
02:18 going to phone it in.
02:19 But Five Nights at Freddy's needs to be able to stand tall alongside the nearly decade-old
02:23 phenomenon the original game has become, and it certainly hasn't been easy.
02:28 Scott Cawthon's initial version of the screenplay getting scrapped for not fitting the vision
02:32 for the project is certainly a major part of why the film adaptation of Five Nights
02:35 at Freddy's has taken so long, but it's also had a domino effect across the entire
02:40 production.
02:41 After all, all films begin with a script.
02:44 Fortunately, Jason Blum and company have seemingly figured out how to make it work.
02:48 Based on what we've already seen from the trailers, the film will incorporate story
02:51 elements from across the franchise, rather than exclusively follow the plot of the original
02:55 game.
02:57 Blum told IGN, "It was many, many, many years of development.
03:01 I've grown to know Scott very well over that time.
03:04 We had to find a structure that would work for us to make this movie together."
03:07 Finding that structure took years, but by all accounts, it sounds like the film will
03:11 have been worth the wait.
03:13 Blum went on to elaborate that he has the utmost confidence in the finished product,
03:17 and that he's thrilled to finally have the film out in the world.
03:19 "We're going to have so much fun together."
03:22 All signs point to a stellar adaptation, and if all goes well, there are plenty of brutal
03:26 moments in the games to put on screen in future movies.
03:30 Five Nights at Freddy's will arrive in theaters and begin streaming on Peacock on October
03:34 27, 2023.
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