The Five Nights At Freddy's Movie Runtime Has Been Revealed (And It's Not Three Hours)
With 13 games and over 30 books/graphic novels as part of the franchise, the lore of "Five Nights at Freddy's" is pretty rich and expansive. All of the animatronics have backstories and different variants that have their own, separate origins, as do all of the human beings that interact with them. Even the location of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza has a backstory, as do all of the sister locations and related spin-off entertainment centers. Between fan breakdowns and timeline analyses, large swaths of information exist to tell the full story of "FNaF," so when rumors began circulating that the film adaptation from Blumhouse and Universal was going to have a three-hour runtime, some folks didn't even think twice.
In order to complete all of the main objectives of the first "FNaF" game, players have to dedicate about two and a half hours to see it through. Completionists, however, would need to spend about five and a half hours. And that's just for the first game. Considering the trailer for "Five Nights at Freddy's" has already revealed that the film will incorporate elements of the lore from more than just the first game, some diehard Fredheads (or Freddles, depending on which side of the fandom you ask) were actually hoping the three-hour timeframe was accurate.
This would have put "Five Nights at Freddy's" at around the same length as "Avengers: Endgame" and "Avatar: The Way of Water." The film was produced by Blumhouse, a company known for brisk runtimes and lower budgets. Yeah, sorry to those who were hoping this was true, but there was no way this was going to be a three-hour movie. That "insider" rumor was likely rooted in someone who saw an assembly cut, not the final edit.
We're looking at a standard horror runtime
Horror movies, on average, tend to be shorter than other movies in other genres. There are outliers, of course, but it's a relatively new phenomenon to have horror movies run closer to two hours rather than a crisp 90 minutes. This is why when AMC listed that the "Five Nights at Freddy's" runtime is actually an hour and 50 minutes, it was much easier to believe than the three-hour epic it was previously rumored to be. The film also has a PG-13 rating and will be going day-and-date in theaters and streaming on Peacock.
As much as I love the story of "FNaF," a film looking to appeal to a wider audience than just die-hard fanatics was never, ever going to be three hours long. "Terrifier 2" was one of the longest horror movies released in recent years at 2 hours and 18 minutes, and so-called "elevated horror" films like "Doctor Sleep," "Midsommar," and "Nope" don't hit the three-hour mark.
Fortunately, fans hoping for a longer film don't need to panic just yet but instead hope that the film performs well. If "Five Nights at Freddy's" is a financial success, it'll motivate Blumhouse and Universal to make more installments. Matthew Lillard, who is playing "career counselor Steve Raglan" (we see you WILLIAM AFTON) has said he thinks there will be more movies on the horizon. There's no need for a three-hour movie when we can just have three full-length movies to make a franchise. So if you're one of the people mourning the shorter run time, make sure that you vote with your dollar and see the movie on Peacock or in theaters. Studios don't care about rabid fandoms unless that translates to profits.
"Five Nights at Freddy's" arrives in theaters and on Peacock on October 27, 2023.