“Five Nights at Freddy’s,” an adaptation of the popular videogame franchise, is finally out this week.
A film version of the videogame has been in development for nearly a decade, beginning in 2015 when Gil Kenan, who directed “Monster House” and who just directed the as-yet-untitled sequel “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” (due out next year), signed on to direct and co-write. That began a fairly tumultuous production cycle that at one point saw “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” filmmaker Chris Columbus sign on.
But now it’s finally here, with a film directed and co-written (with Seth Cuddeback and original creator Scott Cawthon) by Emma Tammi and featuring animatronic characters created by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop. Blumhouse, the production company behind “Paranormal Activity,” “Get Out” and more recently “M3GAN,” is overseeing the film.
But how do you watch “Five Nights at Freddy’s?” Read on to find out!
When does “Five Nights at Freddy’s” come out?
“Five Nights at Freddy’s” will be released by Universal Pictures on Friday, October 27.
Is “Five Nights at Freddy’s” in theaters or streaming?
Both!
“Five Nights at Freddy’s” will be following the release strategy that Universal successfully employed for the two previous “Halloween” movies (“Halloween Kills” and “Halloween Ends”) by launching the new horror film in theaters and on Universal’s streaming service Peacock. So if you want to watch it on the big screen, you can, but you can also stay home in your skeleton pajamas and watch on your TV.
What is the plot of “Five Nights at Freddy’s?”
Josh Hutcherson plays Mike Schmidt, a man who is in desperate need of some stability, so he takes a job as a security guard at an abandoned pizza parlor called Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza (think Chuck E. Cheese’s or Showbiz Pizza). Ever since some kids went missing, the formerly jolly building has been accused of being haunted. And as Mike slowly finds out, there’s more to this story than previously imagined, like how the animatronic characters from the pizzeria are actually alive. Scary!
Who is in the “Five Night’s at Freddy’s” cast?
Besides Hutcherson, Elizabeth Lail (who you might remember as the live-action Anna from “Once Upon a Time”) plays a local cop who aids Mike in his investigation; Piper Rubio plays Mike’s younger sister; and Matthew Lillard plays Mike’s career counselor and the man who gives him the plum assignment of watching over a haunted pizzeria. And the great Mary Stuart Masterson plays a nosy aunt.
What is “Five Nights at Freddy’s” rated?
“Five Nights at Freddy’s” has been rated PG-13 for “strong violent content, bloody images and language.” Honestly, it’s pretty tame. There was a 12-year-old kid in front of me at my screening that was loving it.
What is the “Five Nights at Freddy’s” runtime?
While the movie is called “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” you’ll only spend 110 minutes there.
What do the reviews say about “Five Nights at Freddy’s?”
To paraphrase our favorite “Mad Men” meme, the reviews for “Five Nights at Freddy’s” are not great Bob! Our own review said that “primal fears are replaced with endless exposition and humdrum drama, to say nothing of the film’s disastrous shifts in tone.”
Other critics agree. It currently has a 28 on Metacritic and a 37% on Rotten Tomatoes. Ouch.
Watch the “Five Nights at Freddy’s” trailer
Watch the final “Five Nights at Freddy’s” trailer below:
