It took eight years of development hell for the hit video game franchise, Five Nights at Freddy’s, to make the leap to the big screen. Franchise creator Scott Cawthon ultimately had a hand in the the script with Seth Cuddeback and director Emma Tammi as they loosely adapted the first game in the long-running series, while pulling in some elements from later installments.
Josh Hutcherson headlines the movie as Mike Schmidt, the player character from the original game who takes a job as a security guard at an abandoned restaurant called Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. The film also features Piper Rubio as Mike’s kid sister, Abby, and Elizabeth Lail as Vanessa, a character who wasn’t introduced in the games until Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted.
Over the weekend, Five Nights at Freddy’s had a massive $80 million dollar opening in the US and $130 million worldwide, which all but assures that executives at Universal Pictures and Blumhouse will rush to greenlight a sequel. But where can a Five Nights at Freddy’s sequel go after the events of the first film? The creative team behind the scenes can’t simply rehash everything from the first movie and expect a sequel to be successful. Fortunately, the movie itself and many of the game sequels offer an intriguing roadmap for any follow-up cinematic adventures.
There are some spoilers ahead for the Five Nights at Freddy’s movie!
‘80s Prequel Movie
The most obvious direction for a Five Nights at Freddy’s sequel film would be to go back in time and show fans something that they haven’t seen before. Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza was apparently the equivalent of Chuck E. Cheese in this world, and the games have never explored the franchise in its prime.
There are also several allusions throughout the movie about William Afton (Matthew Lillard) luring children into safe rooms at the restaurant and using their bodies to create the animatronic characters. Afton has that rare blend of Tony Stark-like genius with the mind of a serial killer. It also seems clear that Afton wasn’t caught or exposed during the ‘80s, but people did notice all of the missing kids, which appears to have contributed to the downfall of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza.
The real challenge of doing a Five Nights at Freddy’s prequel would be to find an ending that isn’t an incredible downer. Afton isn’t a Hannibal Lecter-like charismatic serial killer who practically invites the audience to root for him. Nor is Afton a wisecracking Freddy Krueger type. The big attraction here is seeing how the animatronics first came to life, literally. If The Conjuring Universe’s Annabel can get two origin movies, then there should at least be one Five Nights prequel.
Franchising Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza
Because of the way the first movie ends, it would be difficult to directly translate the story of Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 into a sequel story. But it’s not impossible. The story of the game follows a female security guard who has the nightshift at a new Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza restaurant that features brand new murderous animatronics, as well as a few classic models.
If Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza comes under new ownership in the present, then this could work as a plot for the sequel. Presumably the restaurant would be a completely new location, or simply a remodel and repair of the original building. Another alternative would be to set this story in either the late ‘80s or early ‘90s, before the scandals that forced it to close. This would also allow Afton to have a significant part, since the second game does allude to his child-murdering ways as well.
Fazbear’s Fright
Unlike its predecessor, Five Nights at Freddy’s 3 has the perfect setup for a film sequel. Within the world of the game, someone used the lore of the Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza murders to create a horror attraction called Fazbear’s Fright. That would not only be a logical extension of the film story, it would be a good explanation as to why the original animatronics were repurposed for the attraction.
This also fits in perfectly with the ending of the movie, since Afton was seemingly dying in his suit after being mortally wounded. The third game formally introduces Springtrap, the animatronic that is controlled by Afton’s ghost. That would allow Lillard to reprise his role for the sequel without undoing his character’s death. And if the filmmakers really want to get meta, they should put Fazbear’s Fright in Universal Studios’ Halloween Horror Nights and unleash the killer animatronics on the park within the movie.
The Dark Pixar Approach
Five Nights at Freddy’s 4 has a great premise for a video game sequel, there would just be a few issues making it work on the big screen. The game is set in the bedroom of a child who is scared to death of the Freddy Fazbear, Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy animatronics. It’s like a Toy Story gone wrong when the kid is threatened by them over the course of five nights.
If this premise is going to be used, then the kid couldn’t be Abby from the first film. She loved Freddy and the gang, even after they tried to make her into one of them. So it would have to be a new child in the lead role. It’s also going to be difficult making the animatronics scary now that we know they’re inhabited by the ghosts of dead children. A way around that would be if the mascots were simply a psychological hallucination that the new kid is having. But again, it would take a lot to shape this premise into a full movie. It might work better as a short film.
Sister Location
The fifth game, Five Nights at Freddy’s: Sister Location, has a lot of cinematic sequel potential because it’s not dependent on the restaurant at all. The game is set at Circus Baby’s Entertainment and Rental, another franchise created by William Afton, that allows customers to rent out animatronics for children’s birthday parties by day, so that they’re home in time to scare another employee at night.
Circus Baby herself is one of the main reasons that the player character can live through the night, because she helps him develop strategies to neutralize her murderous counterparts. Even with the new additions, some elements of this story are also reminiscent of the first game and movie. But that’s true of almost any sequel. At least this one has a good reason to exist.
Mall Warriors
Among the remaining games in the franchise, Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach may have the second-best premise for a sequel. It even captures the spirit of the first movie more than the other options. Instead of limiting the action to a small restaurant or a single location, the game is set at Freddy Fazbear’s Mega Pizzaplex, a mall-like restaurant entertainment complex with multiple floors and rooms to explore.
More importantly, the game gives the player one heroic animatronic creation, Glamrock Freddy, to help them live through the night when its murderous counterparts come looking for victims. This would work really well for a big-budget sequel, and it could even be adapted to put Mike and Abby in the leading roles instead of introducing a kid named Gregory to take on the killer animatronics.
