Matthew Lillard and Josh Hutcherson are among the first to be cast in Blumhouse's feature film adaptation of popular horror video game Five Nights at Freddy's.
According to Deadline, their roles have not yet been specified, but production on the film is set to begin in February in New Orleans.
Five Nights at Freddy's, created by Scott Cawthorn, is a point-and-click survival horror game in which the player is a security guard working the night shift at Chuck E. Cheese-esque restaurant Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. The terrifying animatronic animals come to life at night, and your goal is to prevent them from murdering you before shift is over - ideally, they won't murder you after your shift is over either, but that's not really part of the game.
Per Deadline, the film adaptation's premise is more or less the same: The plot follows a "troubled security guard as he begins working at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. While spending his first night on the job, he realizes the night shift at Freddy’s won’t be so easy to make it through."
Chris Columbus was originally attached to direct, but pulled out of the project in 2021, and was subsequently replaced by Emma Tammi (The Wind, Blood Moon). Cawthon, Tammi, and Seth Cuddeback have penned the script.
Lillard is no stranger to the horror genre, having starred alongside Neve Campbell and Skeet Ulrich in Wes Craven's Scream and as a ghost hunter with psychic abilities in Steve Beck's 2001 remake of Thirteen Ghosts. Not to mention he's come face to face with several ghouls as Shaggy in the Scooby Doo franchise, and played an accused murderer on Twin Peaks: The Return.
Hutcherson is perhaps best known for his lead role as Peeta Mellark in The Hunger Games franchise, starring alongside Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth, Stanley Tucci, Woody Harrelson, and Elizabeth Banks. He also produced and starred in Hulu's sci-fi comedy Future Man, and wrapped production on two new feature films this year: Macon Blair's 57 Seconds, and Jonathan Sobol's Littlemouth.
Five Nights at Freddy's does not yet have a release date, but we'll be having nightmares about being hunted by anthropomorphic animatronic demon teddy bears while we wait.
For more, check out our list of all the upcoming video game adaptations headed your way.
