Three Major Horror Sequels (Including Five Nights At Freddy's 2) Have New Release Dates
The only constant in life is change, folks. The best-laid plans end up having to be adjusted, external factors force even the wisest decision-makers to improvise on the fly, and, all the while, the ruthless film gods laugh at us from their ivory towers in the sky. Is this lede a tad melodramatic for what's nothing more than just another article about movie release dates jumping around? Probably, but we have to make sure you're all paying attention somehow!
Variety reports that Universal Pictures and Blumhouse Productions woke up today and apparently chose chaos, as the studios took a look at their big-screen horror offerings to come over the next year and change and shook things up significantly. While the new calendar shift affects quite a few titles, the three main ones that fans will undoubtedly want to keep an eye on include "Five Nights at Freddy's 2," "M3GAN 2.0," and "The Black Phone 2." (None of these are the most imaginatively-titled sequels ever made, admittedly, but don't shoot the messenger — we can only work with what we've got.)
We'll start with "Five Nights at Freddy's," the enjoyably gnarly video game adaptation about possessed animatronics haunting the most nightmarish Chuck E. Cheese knockoff you've ever seen. The Gen Z-fueled box office success quickly led to the official greenlight for a sequel, which was initially teased to hit theaters sometime next year. We now know that this follow-up will bow on December 5, 2025. As for "M3GAN 2.0," announced back in early 2023, everyone's favorite murder-doll has been pushed from May 16, 2025, to June 27, 2025. Ditto for director Scott Derrickson's "The Black Phone 2," which moves from June 27, 2025, to the appropriately spooky date of October 17, 2025. Got all that? Good. There'll be a quiz.
Five Nights at Freddy's 2, M3GAN 2.0, and The Black Phone 2 scare up new release dates
When you're a pair of famously artist-friendly studios operating in the horror genre and seemingly can't stop pumping out hit after hit, well, you're probably entitled to the benefit of the doubt when it comes to releasing even more of those movies in the near future. Universal and Blumhouse have shaken things up quite a bit when it comes to three major franchise titles to come in 2025 — "M3GAN 2.0," "Five Nights at Freddy's 2," and "The Black Phone 2" — but they didn't stop there, either.
Horror fans can also look forward to two original flicks as well, as Variety reports that the studios have added a pair of new titles to their slate. "Orphan," "The Shallows," and "Black Adam" director Jaume Collet-Serra is behind "The Woman in the Yard," a mysterious new project starring Danielle Deadwyler, Russell Horsby, Okwui Okpokwasili, Peyton Jackson, and Estella Kahiha. Meanwhile, "Happy Death Day" filmmaker Christopher Landon will direct "Drop," vaguely described as a "blood-chilling, fast-paced thriller" and starring Meghann Fahy, Brandon Sklenar, Violett Beane, Jacob Robinson, and Ed Weeks. Both movies will release sometime in 2025.
Stay tuned to /Film for more info on all of these films.