Deadline reports that Blumhouse and Universal have found a director for the long in-development Five Nights at Freddy’s movie, enlisting Chris Columbus to write and direct the feature. The production company confirmed the news on Twitter with the below photo.
Mr. Columbus, are you ready for Freddy? #FiveNightsatFreddys pic.twitter.com/4F7QEnw16x
— Blumhouse (@blumhouse) February 12, 2018
Columbus is perhaps best known for directing the first two Harry Potter films for Warner Bros. plus family friendly entertainment like Mrs. Doubtfire and Home Alone, but he has dabbled in horror previously by penning the script for the classic horror-comedy Gremlins and executive producing the period horror The Witch. Chris Columbus will also produce the film alongside Blumhouse’s Jason Blum and the video game’s creator, Scott Cawthon.
Five Night’s at Freddy’s challenges players to survive for five nights as a security guard in a demented pizza entertainment restaurant where homicidal, possessed animatronics roam the halls in search of their next victims.
The first game in the series launched in August of 2014 and quickly became a sensation online, inspiring countless Let’s Play videos. A sequel was released in November of the same year, followed by third and fourth entries in 2015, a fifth game in 2016, and a sixth game last year. The series has played with non-linear and non-traditional storytelling throughout its continuity with the fourth game actually being the first in the timeline, the first game arriving in the middle of the continuity, and the most recent, Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria Simulator, being the final chapter (for now).
The underlying story of the franchise is very cryptic and hidden throughout the games, giving the upcoming film the opportunity to expand on and confirm the story details. Mini-games throughout the series have offered clues to the underlying story of what caused the animatronics of Freddy Fazbear and his friends to haunt the location, pointing toward a decade-spanning child murderer and the return of his victims from beyond the grave.
