Five Nights At Freddy's 2 Is Being Fast-Tracked By Blumhouse, According To Star Josh Hutcherson
"Five Nights at Freddy's" is getting a sequel. As expected, Universal Pictures and Blumhouse are wasting no time in getting a sequel to last year's hit video game adaptation going. While the studio has yet to make a formal announcement, star Josh Hutcherson recently revealed that a follow-up to the horror flick is in the works as we speak, and it sounds very much like the brass wants to get the ball moving sooner rather than later.
Hutcherson recently spoke with Variety while promoting his new movie "The Beekeeper." During the conversation, he addressed the status of "Five Nights at Freddy's 2." He confirmed that the story is being worked on as we speak. "I know they're in the process right now of nailing down the story, and they want to get going as soon as possible," Hutcherson said. The actor also added that he is very appreciative to have been a part of such a big film, with the sheer level of success taking everyone by surprise.
"Obviously, the fans are amazing and die hard. For me to be a part of it was so cool and phenomenal. We hoped it would connect with audiences. But I don't think that anybody, even on our side of things, expected it to really connect the way that it did. I'm dying to get back on set. Emma Tammi, our director, was fantastic, and it was such a fun world to play in. I'm excited to see what they are doing next."
The movie, released just in time for Halloween last year, is based on the wildly popular series of video games of the same name. It grossed nearly $300 million worldwide against a mere $20 million budget. Most amazing of all? It did so even though the movie was streaming on Peacock the whole time. Even so, people chose to make the trip to the theater.
A new horror franchise is born
A sequel has been a foregone conclusion for months. Pretty much any time a movie makes that much money, it's bound to happen — especially a horror movie. Blumhouse Productions is particularly good at taking hit movies and turning them into hit franchises. Horror rarely produces a one-off hit. If it works once, Hollywood will try to make it work again. In this case, Scott Cawthon's games have a surprising amount of dense lore to pull from, with many sequels and spin-offs being released since the original game arrived in 2014. So Tammi and whoever is working on the screenplay will have plenty of material to work with.
As for who might return alongside Hutcherson? For what it's worth, Mathew Lillard strongly suggested that he signed a three-movie deal. So it would make every bit of sense to bring him back as Steve Raglan. Piper Rubio's Abby and Elizabeth Lail's Vanessa also seem like sure bets. Beyond that, anything else would be wild speculation. Assuming things move as quickly as Hutcherson is suggesting they might, we'll likely be learning more sooner rather than later. Stay tuned.
"Five Nights at Freddy's" is available on Blu-ray and streaming on Peacock.