Cameras are finally rolling on Five Nights at Freddy's, the feature film adaptation of the popular video game of the same name. It's a project that has taken several years to get off the ground, with fans at one point starting to wonder if the movie would ever actually get made. Jason Blum recently revealed that production has begun, and one of the movie's stars, Matthew Lillard, has now let his followers know that he has arrived on set to start his work on the film.
"Prep Day 1," Lillard says in an Instagram post, sharing a photo of himself preparing to slip into character.
Lillard is playing William Afton in the film, and he even alludes to this in his Instagram post by using the hashtag #williamafton. In the video game lore, William Afton, nicknamed the "Purple Guy," is one of the main antagonists of the series. If the movie does well, the plan seems to be for Lillard to return as William in future installments, as he has also said that his deal for Five Nights at Freddy's was for three movies.
Five Nights at Freddy's Gets the Movie Treatment
Emma Tammi is directing Five Nights at Freddy's using a screenplay co-written by the game creator Scott Cawthon alongside Tammi and Seth Cuddeback. Cawthon is also producing with Jason Blum. Along with Lillard as the villain, the film also stars Josh Hutcherson as Mike Schmidt, the night shift security guard at the center of the story. Mary Stuart Masterson and Piper Rubio also star. As for the animatronics, they're made with the help of Jim Henson's Creature Shop.
It's great to be working with Jim Henson's Creature Shop," Blum said of the company's involvement, previously sharing a photo of their work in progress on the props. "Their experience and expertise with animatronics is absolutely killer!
Full plot details aren't clear for the film, though we can presume it will be set in a Chuck E. Cheese style pizza restaurant that's inhabited by murderous animatronics. That's what happens in the original video game, which turned out to be a huge hit when it was released in 2014. It was followed up with several sequels and spinoffs, and the video game series is still ongoing.
The Five Nights at Freddy's movie doesn't yet have a premiere date.