Blumhouse Productions Is Making A Five Nights At Freddy’s Film
According to recent movie news, Blumhouse’s Five Nights At Freddy’s seems to be in production. A recent teaser shows Jim Henson’s Creature Shop working on models of our beloved animatronics. Based on the microphone and bowtie, it looks like they are specifically working on Freddy Fazbear.
I can’t explain how excited I am about this. My gut feeling is that this is going to be one of the best movie adaptations of a video game series of all time. I know a lot of us were excited about a 2020 release date, but 2023 is just as good.
Jason Blum’s Jim Henson’s Creature Shop Teaser
Blumhouse founder and producer Jason Blum took to social media to tease a behind-the-scenes image of the upcoming Five Nights At Freddy’s film adaption.
The film adaption of the hit indie darling Five Nights At Freddy’s has been in development hell for years. After being tossed from Warner Bros. Pictures to Blumhouse and suffering from multiple rewrites and possible directors, it looks like the film is finally back on track.
So here’s what we know so far – Five Nights At Freddy’s creator Scott Cawthon teased an earlier draft of the script that would focus on the events of the first video game and that there was space to set up a second and third film. In March of this year, Blumhouse’s Jason Blum stated that the film is “dangerously close” and that it could release in 2023.
After about five months of silence, Jason Blum took to social media yet again to give fans of the franchise their first look at the film’s pre-production. In a tweet, Jason Blum said “It’s great to be working with Jim Henson’s Creature Shop. Their experience and expertise with animatronics is absolutely killer!” We couldn’t have said it better ourselves! As you can see below we get a look inside the Jim Henson creature shop where a special effects artist is assembling a mock-up of one of the suits (most likely Freddy Fazbear himself).
The Jim Henson Company is responsible for beloved films, such as The Muppetts, Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, The Witches, and more. With the most recent news and the accurate-looking character models, it looks like the reception for the film is at an all-time high. Despite the attempt at the similarly inspired idea, Willy’s Wonderland, we’re hoping Blumhouse can step up to bat and really take the franchise home.
With special effects designed by The Jim Henson Company, Five Nights At Freddy’s could put Blumhouse back in movie-goers’ good graces. As of now, there is no official release date besides a slated 2023 debut, stay tuned to PHASR for any updates regarding the film.
Scott’s Reddit Post About Movie Scripts
If you are not a fan of Five Nights At Freddy’s, it may be difficult to understand the potential plot of this movie. FNAF has one of the most cryptic canons in horror media. It includes haunted robots, sentient computer viruses, and a family torn apart by the events of the series.
A while back, Scott Cawthon made a Reddit post that gave details about the FNAF script for Blumhouse. The fandom got very excited when Scott announced that they would be moving forward with the “Michael Afton” script.
In the Reddit post, Scott states:
“The “Mike” screenplay
Basic Setup: Hmmmm. This makes sense. Why didn’t I think of this before?
Problems: Actually this is a good mix… it has the best pieces from all the previous screenplays… Not really any problems here. All the right characters, all the right motivations, all the right stakes…
Verdict: Yeah, we’re going with this one. It’s fun, it’s scary, and it has a great central story!”
If you don’t know a lot about FNAF, the name “Michael Afton” doesn’t mean much. Today, I wanted to tell you a simplified version of the Michael Afton storyline for people who are excited about the FNAF movie but don’t know much about it.
The basic plot of Five Nights At Freddy’s is simple. There is a serial killer within a Chuck E. Cheese-style restaurant. The murdered children then go on to haunt the restaurant’s animatronic band. The possessed robots attempt to avenge themselves by attacking adults.
While this concept may be easy to understand, it is an extremely simplified version of events. Let’s dig into the lore that Blumhouse is using during the development of Five Nights At Freddy’s.
RELATED: FuhNaff Tells The History Of Five Nights At Freddy’s
Michael Afton: The Lore Of Blumhouse’s FNAF
Before we get started, I wanted to let you know that the FNAF lore is not set in stone. The cryptic nature of the series leaves a lot of gaps and questions. I say this to let you know that I do have to take some of my own liberties when discussing the FNAF canon. Also, as stated previously, I will be leaving out some lore elements to make the story easier to understand for newcomers to the series.
Michael Afton is the oldest son of William Afton. William, along with his partner Henry, runs a Chuck E. Cheese-style business of pizza restaurants. These establishments are meant for children’s entertainment.
Much like Chuck E. Cheese, the children get to watch and interact with a band of animatronic animals. This includes Bonnie The Bunny, Chica The Chicken, and Freddy The Bear.
William Afton is also a serial killer of children. He uses the animatronics in the restaurants to lure children to their demise. Needless to say, the restaurant isn’t as safe for kids as they want you to think it is.
Michael inadvertently causes the death of his younger brother. He is known for bullying his little brother. The abuse comes to a climax when Michael jokingly puts his brother’s head into the mouth of an animatronic. The animatronic crushes the child’s head.
Sometime later, William asks Michael to go on an adventure in search of his sister, Elizabeth. The quest leads Michael to an underground bunker underneath the family’s house. This secret workshop is where William would work on his child-snatching animatronics.
In the bunker, Michael finds that his sister is dead. She now possesses a girl clown animatronic called Baby. Baby is programmed to give ice cream to children.
However, if there is only one child in the room, the claw that hands out the ice cream grabs the child and stores them inside of Baby. Elizabeth, enamored with Baby, met her demise after sneaking in to see her.
The underground lair is also home to other killer animatronics. Michael finds out that they are trying to escape the bunker and make it back out into the real world. Throughout Michael’s journey, the animatronics are dismantled and reformed into an amalgamation known as Ennard.
The animatronics trick Michael into going into the ‘Scooping Room’. This room has a machine that will remove the robotic parts from inside the animatronics. After going into the scooping room, Michael’s insides are scooped out and replaced by Ennard. Ennard, wearing Michael as a skin suit, makes its way to the surface.
Michael is now going about his life. However, his neighbors are getting worried about his appearance. Michael’s skin is slowly turning purple.
Eventually, Ennard decides to leave Michael behind. The robot leaves his body and hides in the sewers. In a turn of events, Michael’s corpse comes back to life.
At this point, the now-undead Michael fully understands what his father has been up to. He decides to track down his father and put an end to the evil once and for all.
Michael begins visiting different restaurant locations in search of his father. He even goes to a haunted house themed around the Freddy’s murders.
During this time, William Afton died. After being haunted by the ghosts of his victims, William attempts to hide in his golden bunny mascot suit. These suits were built to be worn by people, and also be controlled by robotics. William’s body is crushed when the robotic parts of the suit snap back into place with him inside.
Much like his own victims, Willam’s soul begins to haunt the rabbit suit. This is a version of William Afton known as ‘Springtrap’. William is trapped behind the walls of the pizzeria before he is uncovered by the people running the haunted house. They put him in the attraction not knowing that he is still alive, allowing him to escape.
After spending many years searching for his father, Michael sees a job posting for a new pizzeria opening. He responds to the listing and gets hired to be the night guard.
One interesting aspect of his employment contract involves having to look in the back alley of the restaurant after every shift. If there is an animatronic in the back alley, Michael must bring it into the restaurant and run tests to see if it is possessed.
To Michael’s surprise, he knows all of the animatronics that appears in the alley. This includes his sister (haunting Baby), his father (haunting Springtrap), and the Baby-less remnants of Ennard (now known as Molten Freddy).
Michael is now working in a pizzeria that is inhabited by all of the antagonists of the series. He finds out that the restaurant is fake. It was created by William’s partner, Henry, who also realized what William has been doing all of these years.
Henry’s plan was to lure all of the bad animatronics to the restaurant and burn it to the ground. As the restaurant burns, William gives heartfelt messages to all of William’s victims, including his own daughter. He tells Michael that he did not expect him to apply for the job, but it is fitting that he did. Finally, he tells William that hell is waiting for him.
Everyone dies in the fire, and the souls are released….for now.
This is the (very) basic story of the Michael Afton storyline in the Five Nights At Freddy’s universe. While we don’t know how Blumhouse will handle this story, we can most definitely expect to see some aspects of this tale in the movie.
Are You Excited About The Five Nights At Freddy’s Movie?
I cannot wait to see what Blumhouse does with the Five Nights At Freddy’s movie. Are you excited for a film based in the Five Nights At Freddy’s universe? Let us know on social media!
