Spoiler warning for those who haven't yet entered the hallowed pizzeria halls to watch Five Nights at Freddy's, so be warned!
As anyone who’s seen Five Nights at Freddy’s knows, one of the video game adaptation’s biggest wins (outside of its multitude of fandom-friendly references) was the full-gamut performance from Scream and Scooby-Doo franchise vet Matthew Lillard. The cast member looked like he was having a blast in his somewhat limited screen time, going from his reserved career counselor alter ego to a batshit ghost-controlling killer. And the box office-crushing FNAF film’s director Emma Tammi had only kind words to share about the Shaggy voice actor when speaking to CinemaBlend about his character’s identity twist being pegged very soon after his casting was announced.
Lillard and Josh Hutcherson were the first two stars announced for Five Nights at Freddy’s back in mid-December 2022, with neither actor’s role initially confirmed, but it was only a couple of days later when FNAF-friendly YouTuber Dawko more or less revealed that the Ghostface portrayer would be putting on a new villainous mask as the game series’ overarching ghoul of an antagonist William Afton. But the fandom had already voiced such theories by then, based simply on the actor’s age. When I talked to Emma Tammi about bringing this vibrant world to the big screen (or the smaller screen with a Peacock subscription), I asked if it was weird for the movie’s identity twist to have been pegged that early in the casting announcement phase, or if she and the rest of the creative team figured that would happen regardless. In her words:
You know, the fan base for this franchise is so dialed in that I kind of expect that they're gonna guess everything. We really wanted to retain some things for them that we hoped could stay surprises and feel like fun unexpected elements that, in hindsight, maybe they even feel like, 'Oh, this could this movie couldn't have NOT had that,' but that hadn't been revealed yet. I think with Matthew and also just the visibility of what characters we were going to be casting for this film, there was every expectation that everyone was going to be theorizing about who he was playing. You know, at this point, I think we just embraced it and and leaned into it.
Emma Tammi worked with game creator and author Scott Cawthon and co-screenwriter Seth Cuddeback to bring Five Nights at Freddy’s into the Blumhouse universe (shouseiverse?) for a fanbase that has grown seemingly exponentially in the years since the games became a YouTube sensation. Plus, it’s a fandom that has created something of a cottage industry out of theorizing about and obsessing over the lore threaded through the games, novels and story collections. To the point where Game Theory’s MatPat cameoed in the movie, as did fellow YT fave CoryxKenshin.
So if there’s even a morsel of a clue to be discovered, the FNAF fandom can be trusted to figure it out, while also offering up another dozen or so convincing guesses. But thankfully, the Five Nights at Freddy’s storyline wasn’t completely built around the utter shock of Steve Raglan’s suspicious ass being revealed as the weirdo kidnapper both hiring the staff and supplying the souls. And regardless of whether it was a surprise or not, it was still a blast to have an untethered Matthew Lillard in the Springtrap suit, as sad as it was to see him go in such a gut-wrenching manner.
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In that respect, Emma Tammi said there wasn't much the team could do to hinder the fanbase's collective brainpower, so they focused on putting together something that would keep viewers happy, even if they might know who or what was creeping around the corner. She continued:
This all has a life of its own that we have very little control over, so all we can do is try to make the film that we think will resonate with them, and cast people that we think will really do the FNAF world justice. I think Matthew Lillard ticks all the boxes and then some, so it was amazing to have him on board this movie.
FNAF's opening weekend was monstrous for Blumhouse and Universal both theatrically, bringing in $132.6 million globally, and for Peacock, which welcomed a record number of new subscribers and can already boast the horror as its most-watched movie or TV show of all time. As such, it's only a matter of time until the second and third films are fully confirmed, with Lillard hopefully returning in some form or another to wreak more havoc.
Anyone invested in a rewatch can find Freddy Fazbear, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy in theaters now, or streaming on Peacock. In the meantime, check out what other upcoming horror movies are on the way!
