Five Nights at Freddy's: The Movie

Five Nights at Freddy's is an upcoming science-fiction horror film based on the video game of the same name created by Scott Cawthon. It was initially estimated for a 2020 release, but no release date is confirmed as of yet. Filming is scheduled to begin Spring 2021.

Summary
Based on the popular horror video game, a man starts a job working as a night watch security guard at the restaurant Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, where he discovers the animatronics move at night and will kill anyone they see.

Development
Warner Bros. Pictures announced in April 2015 that it had acquired the series' film rights, with Roy Lee, David Katzenberg, and Seth Grahame-Smith scheduled to produce. Grahame-Smith said that they would collaborate with Cawthon "to make an insane, terrifying and weirdly adorable movie". In July 2015, Gil Kenan signed to direct the adaptation and co-write it with Tyler Burton Smith.

In January 2017, Cawthon said that due to "problems within the movie industry as a whole", the film "was met with several delays and roadblocks" and was "back at square one". He promised "to be involved with the movie from day one this time, and that's something extremely important to me. I want this movie to be something that I'm excited for the fanbase to see." Cawthon tweeted a picture of a chair with the name "Freddy" with the Blumhouse Productions logo in March of that year, implying that the film has a new production company. Producer Jason Blum confirmed the news two months later, saying that he was excited about working closely with Cawthon on the adaptation. In June 2017, Kenan said that he was no longer directing the film after Warner Bros. Pictures' turnaround. It was announced in February 2018 that Chris Columbus would direct and write the film, also producing it with Blum and Cawthon.

In August 2018, Cawthon announced that the script's first draft (involving the events of the first game) was completed and a second and third film were possible. That month, Blum tweeted that the film was planned for a 2020 release. In November 2018, Cawthon announced that the film's script had been scrapped and the film would be further delayed. On September 2019, the script for the movie has been confirmed to be finished. In June 2020, Blum said in an interview that the film is in super active development, and that it's moving rapidly forward, but that he doesn't want to put a timeline on it. . In November 2020, Cawthon stated in a reddit post that the screenplay had been chosen and that filming will start in Spring 2021. Included was a list of scrapped screenplays with a small description of each and why they were ultimately eliminated.

Scrapped Screenplays
The following is a list of screenplay ideas and why they weren't chosen written in Scott Cawthon's own words:

Production Companies

 * Blumhouse Productions
 * 1492 Pictures
 * Lionsgate (possibly)

Trivia

 * The 2019 science-fiction horror film Child's Play (a reboot of the 1988 film of the same name) has a similar aesthetic to the Five Nights at Freddy's video games due to the fact that the main villain is an animatronic.
 * The 2019 science-fiction horror-comedy film The Banana Splits Movie, based on the Hanna-Barbera TV show, is speculated to be a reworking of the original Five Nights at Freddy's film Warner Bros. was supposed to work on before the rights went to Blumhouse Productions.
 * The upcoming horror-thriller film Willy's Wonderland appears to have a similar plot line to the Five Nights at Freddy's video games, but the writer and director of the film deny any resemblance.
 * It is possible that the film could be distributed by Lionsgate, due to the fact that Lionsgate assisted Scott Cawthon and Steel Wood Studios in releasing Five Nights at Freddy's VR: Help Wanted. However, while this remains unconfirmed, it's extremely likely. This is because the 2019 psychological/survival horror video game Blair Witch was published by Lionsgate, who also distributed all three films in the Blair Witch film series. (The first two films were released by Artisan Entertainment, which was then purchased by Lionsgate in 2003.)
 * This film will be Blumhouse Productions' first ever video game film.
 * In an interview with Jason Blum, it was revealed that the film is currently Blumhouse Productions' top priority.
 * On September 1, 2020, it was revealed that Jason Blum is using MatPat's Five Nights at Freddy's theory videos as research for the film.
 * Jason Blum claimed that it is possible that Five Nights at Freddy's fan Jamie Lee Curtis from the Halloween franchise might be in the film.
 * On Jack Black's TikTok page, he has been doing Five Nights at Freddy's-related stuff, hinting that he might be a part of the movie.
 * He and his son also played Five Nights at Freddy's 4 (Halloween Edition) on Markiplier's channel to celebrate the 2015 Goosebumps film, which Black starred in.
 * On November 20, 2020, Scott Cawthon made a post on the official Five Nights at Freddy's subreddit, where he revealed that multiple screenplays were considered, as well as explaining why those screenplays were rejected.
 * Scott Cawthon revealed that the plot of the movie will be based around a man named Mike and his connection to Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. It's likely that the protagonist is Michael Afton as his father, William Afton, was the murderer of the five children and co-founder of Fazbear Entertainment.


 * It is also likely that the man in question is Mike Schmidt from the first game in the series.