Credit: Wikipedia Commons/ScottGamesOn the heels of the release of The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023), Universal has announced that another video game film is on the horizon, and this one is much darker.
Yesterday, The Super Mario Bros. Movie was released by Nintendo and Illumination and has sparked a debate between fans and critics. There’s a huge polarity between the film’s Rotten Tomatoes score, with the critic store sitting at a measly 58% and the audience score at a near-universally positive 96%. Video game movies have a reputation for being at best, polarizing and at worst, critically panned. Even the original Super Mario Bros. (1993) has a matching critic and audience score of 29% and has been universally regarded as a terrible movie.
Previously, there seemed to be a curse on video game movies, with legendary games turned into worse-than-lackluster films like Mortal Combat (1995), Doom (2005), and Assassin’s Creed (2016). However, it appears as if the curse has been broken in recent years with films like Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) and the smash-hit HBO television show The Last of Us. There could be hope for video game films yet – and Universal is betting on it for their latest release announcement.
Yesterday, Jason Blum of Blumhouse Productions announced that the film adaption of Five Nights at Freddy’s, starring Matthew Lillard and Josh Hutcherson, will be released on October 27, 2023. The film will also be available to stream on Peacock the same day.
As promised:#FNAF FANS: You asked and we delivered. #FNAFMovie is coming this Halloween on October 27. 2023!!!!!
205 days until the party.
And that is the BIG NEWS
— Jason Blum (@jason_blum) April 6, 2023
Fans of this smash-hit viral indie horror franchise have been clamoring for a film adaption since the first game was released on August 8, 2014. For most of the franchise, you play as a night security guard at a Chuck E. Cheese-type establishment called Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, where the already creepy animatronics have seemingly come to life and started hunting you down. The franchise exploded after indie game developer Scott Cawthon released it on Steam in 2014 and has expanded to feature ten games, spin-offs, multiple book series, merchandise, a massive amount of lore, and more.
The film has been stuck in development hell since 2015, with licensing rights starting at Warner Bros. before moving to Universal’s Blumhouse Productions. Blumhouse is known for horror franchises like Paranormal Activity, Insidious, and The Purge. In December 2022, it was announced that the film would star Josh Hutcherson (of The Hunger Games franchise) and Matthew Lillard (of Scream (1996) and many other classics). Jim Henson’s Creature Shop is doing the animatronic and puppet design for the film. Blumhouse also released the first teaser image for the film, as seen above.