The Big Picture
- Five Nights at Freddy's movie sequel is likely due to the success of the first installment.
- Matthew Lillard expresses excitement about filling in the lore and fan expectations of the franchise with the director and creator.
- There is a possibility that Matthew Lillard's character, William Afton, could return as Springtrap in a sequel to Five Nights at Freddy's.
After the success Five Nights at Freddy's had during its theatrical run, it wouldn't be a surprise to see a sequel to the video game adaptation. Fortunately for fans of the franchise, one of the movie's stars shares the sentiment — the antagonist of the story believes his character's journey at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza can continue. During a recent interview with Collider's Emma Kiely, Scream star Matthew Lillard, who plays William Afton in Five Nights at Freddy's, talked about how he believes a sequel to the horror film is a likely possibility due to how successful the first installment was:
"So, it is Hollywood, one can assume that in success more will follow. I don’t know if it’s gonna be greenlit, it certainly hasn’t been greenlit for me, but the expectation is that they will be making more, and in success, it’s Hollywood, they’ll make a lot more. So, that’s exciting. And if it does come back, and if I’m lucky to be brought back, sure, yeah. I mean, I barely got to touch him, right? I got to kill my daughter, but we know nothing about him. We know nothing about his history, about his journey."
The actor also commented on how important the fans' interaction with the franchise is to him: "All those things that the fans have filled in for year after year, I’m excited to, with Scott and Emma, fill in all those pieces that the fans have always wondered about. That’s the thing is, how do we fill out expectations, and how do we fill out the lore? I’ll be excited to be a piece of that story." Emma Tammi directed Five Nights at Freddy's, closely collaborating with Scott Cawthon, the creator of the independent video game that took the world by storm when it was released in 2014.
The Five Nights at Freddy's movie follows Mike Schmidt (Josh Hutcherson), as a young man looking for a job that would allow him to support himself and his younger sister, Abby (Piper Rubio). His complicated track record only allows him to take on a dangerous opportunity, with Mike becoming the new security guard at the abandoned Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. But the siblings never expected to encounter haunted animatronics out for revenge.
Will Matthew Lillard Play Springtrap?
In the Five Nights at Freddy's video game series, after William Afton is killed by the souls of the children he murdered long ago, he comes back as a zombie version of himself known as Springtrap. The serial killer tries to continue his legacy of destruction as an unstoppable force of evil while he laughs in the face of death itself. Considering how Lillard's iteration of the character was left to die (with a spring lock failure bringing on his demise) if a sequel to Five Nights at Freddy's is produced, the villain could easily return as Springtrap. It remains to be seen if Universal and Blumhouse decide to continue working on the franchise. Though if its impressive worldwide box office haul of $293 million is any indication, we likely haven't seen the last of Freddy's.
Five Nights at Freddy's is currently available to stream on Peacock, and 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD from Universal Home Entertainment.
Five Nights at Freddy's
PG-13HorrorCan you survive five nights? The terrifying horror game phenomenon becomes a blood-chilling cinematic event, as Blumhouse — the producer of M3GAN, The Black Phone, and The Invisible Man — brings Five Nights at Freddy’s to the big screen. The film follows a troubled security guard as he begins working at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. While spending his first night on the job, he realizes the night shift at Freddy’s won’t be so easy to make it through.
- Release Date
- October 27, 2023
- Director
- Emma Tammi
- Cast
- Josh Hutcherson , Matthew Lillard , Elizabeth Lail , Mary Stuart Masterson
- Runtime
- 110 minutes
- Main Genre
- Horror
