The video game adaptation Five Nights at Freddy’s (read our review HERE) quickly became Blumhouse Productions’ highest-grossing movie when it reached theatres and the Peacock streaming service back in October, surpassing the likes of Split, The Invisible Man, The Black Phone, M3GAN, the recent Halloween sequel trilogy, and the Paranormal Activity, Insidious, and The Purge franchises with its haul of $295 million. So, of course, there’s a sequel coming our way, aiming for a December 5, 2025 theatrical release – and during a conversation with Collider, returning director Emma Tammi said the team behind the film stretched themselves creatively with the animatronic action in the sequel, which is also packed with Easter eggs for die-hard fans of the video games to watch out for.
The first Five Nights at Freddy’s 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. Now, a shocking new chapter of animatronic terror begins. One year has passed since the supernatural nightmare at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. The stories about what transpired there have been twisted into a campy local legend, inspiring the town’s first ever Fazfest. Former security guard Mike (Josh Hutcherson) and police officer Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail) have kept the truth from Mike’s 11-year-old sister, Abby (Piper Rubio), concerning the fate of her animatronic friends. But when Abby sneaks out to reconnect with Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy, it will set into motion a terrifying series of events, revealing dark secrets about the true origin of Freddy’s, and unleashing a long-forgotten horror hidden away for decades.
As the synopsis mentions, the first film’s stars Josh Hutcherson (The Hunger Games), Elizabeth Lail (You), and Piper Rubio (Holly & Ivy) have returned for Five Nights at Freddy’s 2. So have Matthew Lillard (Scream) and Theodus Crane (Underground). New characters are played by Freddy Carter (Shadow and Bone), Wayne Knight (Jurassic Park), Mckenna Grace (Ghostbusters franchise), Teo Briones (Final Destination: Bloodlines), and Lillard’s Scream co-star Skeet Ulrich. Megan Fox (Jennifer’s Body) is voicing Toy Chica, MatPat (FNAF the Musical) is voicing Toy Bonnie, and Kellen Goff (Five Nights at Freddy’s: Secret of the Mimic) provides the voice of Toy Freddy.
The first adaptation was originally set up at Warner Bros., where Gil Kenan (Monster House) was going to direct the film from a screenplay he was writing with Tyler Burton Smith (the Child’s Play remake). Then the project moved over to Blumhouse, where Chris Columbus (Home Alone) was attached to direct it for several years. It finally went into production with Emma Tammi – director of The Wind, Into the Dark: Delivered, and Into the Dark: Blood Moon – at the helm, working from a screenplay she wrote with Seth Cuddeback (Mateo) and video game creator Scott Cawthon. Tragedy Girls writers Tyler MacIntyre and Chris Lee Hill share story credit with Cawthon. Tammi has directed the sequel from a script by Cawthon.
Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is produced by Blumhouse founder and CEO Jason Blum and Scott Cawthon, who also produced the first film. The executive producers are director Emma Tammi, Beatriz Sequeira, Christopher Warner, Russell Binder, and Marc Mostman. Jim Henson’s Creature Shop handled the special effects that bring the homicidal animatronic animals to life on the screen.
Tammi told Collider, “The amount of animatronics that we added to the mix on the second film felt like, okay, we’re stretching ourselves much further creatively, technically, and so much action with them, as well. That was really a very cool expansion of the world. … I hope that we’ve crafted something that feels special and unexpected while still delivering on all the things that we knew they wanted. I do think the big tease is the animatronics — all the ones they’re expecting, maybe some more — and just chock-full of Easter eggs again. We’ve really done our best to include as many details and things as possible that fans are going to pick out from the game, that they’re going to appreciate from the lore. It’s just really packed. Now, you might not get all those references if you’re not a die-hard fan, but I think the story still is really a fun ride, and I think you can follow it and enjoy it, even if you don’t understand all the layers.” She added that more puppeteers were employed on the sequel, with one of the animatronics requiring at least thirteen people to operate it.
Will you be catching Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 on the big screen this December? Are you looking forward to the animatronic action and the video game Easter eggs? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
