It Sure Looks Like Jim Henson's Creature Shop Is Working On The Five Nights At Freddy's Movie
It looks like "Five Nights at Freddy's" is about to become real after all. Since acquiring the film rights to the popular horror game franchise back in 2017, Blumhouse's adaptation has had its fair share of roadblocks and delays. Despite these setbacks, such as the loss of director Chris Columbus, producer Jason Blum has long been promising fans that the film is very much still in development.
Well, it looks like those promises finally have some merit to them. Blum recently posted a behind-the-scenes photo from the prestigious Jim Henson's Creature Shop of a designer working on what appears to be a model of some kind. He confirmed on the post that Blumhouse is working with the visual effects company, founded by Henson in 1979, on an unspecified project.
"It's great to be working with Jim Henson's Creature Shop," wrote Blum. "Their experience and expertise with animatronics is absolutely killer!"
It's great to be working with Jim Henson's Creature Shop. Their experience and expertise with animatronics is absolutely killer! @blumhouse pic.twitter.com/T81BguWJ69
— Jason Blum (@jason_blum) August 9, 2022
However, eagle-eyed fans could see exactly what was being built. It looks like the designer was crafting a model of Freddy Fazbear, the lovable yet deadly animatronic mascot of "Freddy Fazbear's Pizza," the primary setting for the first game in the franchise. This photo is perhaps the closest we've gotten to actual news on the film in months, so this is a bit of a big deal for "FNAF" fans.
The animatronic characters here do get a bit quirky at night
While the apparent confirmation of Jim Henson's Creature Shop's involvement is a great sign for the movie's progress, this isn't the first time they've allegedly been involved in the same project. According to Kotaku, the company was attached to create the film's animatronics back when it was slated to be a Warner Bros. film. Then-director Gil Kenan posted a photo on his Instagram back in 2015 that appeared to be the eyes of an animatronic in progress.
The Kotaku article states that he commented and confirmed the involvement of the Creature Shop on the post, but the comment itself appears to have been deleted. Furthermore, the Wayback Machine does not have a screenshot of the comment still intact, meaning it was likely deleted at some point when Blumhouse acquired the rights. It's still unclear whether they were legitimately involved in the project or if this was just speculation, but what is abundantly clear is that they will be involved in Blumhouse's iteration of the project.
As for who will be directing the movie, that is still unknown. Kenan announced his departure from the project when the rights were given to Blumhouse (via Player One). Columbus had been attached to the project since 2018, but news of his departure came in September 2021 during an interview between Blum and Collider. This news, however, could foreshadow the announcement of a new director (and potentially a lot more) in the weeks to come.