Five Nights at Freddy’s fans, wake up! Mere days after the eighth anniversary of the indie horror darling series, the long-awaited movie adaptation has finally released its first behind-the-scenes image. This photo comes to use from Blumhouse founder, Jason Blum, who also reveals that the special effects will be handled by none other than Jim Henson’s Creature Shop!

Considering the movie’s delays have pretty much become a meme at this point, this announcement was like a major bombshell for the giant fandom of the haunted animatronic game. The film adaptation of Five Nights at Freddy’s was initially announced way back in 2015, a year after the game’s release. The announcement came from Warner Bros., with Gil Kenan set up to direct and co-write with Tyler Burton Smith. It was an exciting time, but then things went silent. In 2017, the game’s creator Scott Cawthon announced that they were “back to square one,” and went on to state that he wanted to be an involved with the project as possible in order to produce a film that the fans truly could enjoy. Shortly after, it Kenan announced that he was no longer attached to the project. The film then switched houses, from Warner Bros. to Blumhouse the Fazbear friends went, and Chris Columbus was then signed on to direct.

The movie was then scheduled for a 2020 release… but then underwent several rewrites. In 2020, Blum stated that the film was still moving forward. In 2021, it was announced that Chris Columbus was no longer attached, but the team was still pushing forward. This brings us to today, with animatronics officially under construction…

A Production As Scary As Freddy’s

Five Nights at Freddy's Movie Gets Harry Potter Director Chris Columbus

Five Nights at Freddy’s is a point and click horror game about a night guard at a family pizzeria. Every night, the player takes the role of the nameless guard who must keep an eye on the strange animatronics that roam the halls when the children have all gone home. If the animatronics catch you, it’s curtains!

It’s an understatement to say that the game was an overnight sensation. With its creepy atmosphere, haunting animatronic designs, and easy to pick up gameplay, Five Nights at Freddy’s became a cultural phenomenon. The game not only struck a chord with horror fans, but children as well! The game soon launched sequel after sequel, and served as the springboard for a number of other indie horror game franchises such as Bendy & the Ink Machine and Poppy Playtime, the latter of which recently signed a film deal of its own earlier this year!

Scott Cawthon is well known for treating the lore of his games in a unique, yet admittedly confusing, way. The first Freddy’s game featured little story and was mostly told in various hints and Easter eggs within the game. It was through the sequels that players excitedly clawed through for more hints and ideas on the true story behind the games. It was in Five Nights at Freddy’s 4: The Final Chapter that Cawthon introduced a box to players that reached the end of the game. But the box stayed closed, with no means of opening. Fans have concluded that the contents of the box would have contained the final pieces of the puzzle behind the story of Five Nights at Freddy’s. Whether it was Cawthon not being happy with the story, or pressure from the fans, he chose to leave everyone in the dark.

Considering Cawthon’s heavy involvement with the film, it’s possible that his shaky history with the lore of his games has something to do with so many script issues. Cawthon came forward on Reddit to talk about the various approaches that writers (including himself) attempted with the story. But none of them stuck around for long. Considering the team is moving forward with special effects, perhaps this means we will be seeing the movie soon! And with a studio like Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, you know it's going to be nothing short of impressive!