Five Nights at Freddy's, Scott Cawthon's innovative survival horror video game franchise, has amassed a massive fan following, the likes of which many other franchises can only dream of. Unfortunately, the film has been through one of the most elongated and unstable development stages in recent memory, going through ten drafts of the script and changing hands from Warner Bros. to Blumhouse Productions. Now, Chris Columbus, director of classics Home Alone and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, has parted ways from his position as the director of Five Nights at Freddy's.
Monster House director Gil Kenan had originally been the director attached to the film, with Columbus taking the mantle three years after that. Since the first discussions surrounding a film adaptation of the franchise began in 2015, there have been five mainline video games in the Five Nights at Freddy's franchise along with various spin-offs, including a virtual reality game and an augmented reality game. An ambitious new video game entry in the franchise, Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach, is slated to release later this year for Playstation 4, Playstation 5, and PC.
As of this time, Blumhouse Productions has not attached a new filmmaker to the Five Nights at Freddy's movie. According to Jason Blum, the greatest focus, when it comes to the project, seems to be getting the script just right. In an interview with Collider, Blum stated, "Basically, Scott [Cawthon] has kind of like the equivalent of ‘final cut’ and it's taken longer than I hoped to get the right story.” Nevertheless, Blum did end his interview on an optimistic note, stating that he believed he will eventually be able to figure it out.
A Five Nights at Freddy's film isn't the only video game movie currently in development. Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, a reboot of Sony's Resident Evil film franchise, is scheduled to release in theaters on November 24th, 2021. Meanwhile, Uncharted and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 are both slated to release during 2022, while Illumination's Mario movie (and its eccentric voice cast) will be seen by audiences in the holiday season of 2022.
While Blumhouse Productions and Scott Cawthon are still having trouble with the Five Nights at Freddy's film, it's good to have an update on the project. Plus, Columbus exiting the project may leave room for another talented filmmaker to take the reigns.
Five Nights at Freddy's is currently in development.
Source: Collider