Editorial Staff
Ingenious idea of the week : take a popular video game, one that all the kids are sneaking out after bedtime to play on their consoles and cellular, and turn it into a big-budget movie!
Unheard of!
In a stroke of genius, Blumhouse (currently resurrecting The Shape for “Halloween” and largely known for their hardcore horror fare) are bringing the popular video game “Five Nights at Freddy’s” to the big screen. Chris Columbus (“Home Alone”, “Night at the Museum”) has been tapped to write, produce and direct the feature – his attachment suggesting the movie will be a tad less violent than the source material.
Here’s the marketing spiel on the game : Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza is a restaurant that kids love for its puppet show, the animatronics, during the day. But… you don’t work the day! You have responded to a classified ad for a “quiet” job as a night security guard at this restaurant. You will soon discover that these “lovely” plush toys move at night and your goal will be to survive 5 nights, from midnight to 6am, without being eaten by one of them. For this, you will have several security cameras and will have to close the doors to prevent them from reaching your office. But beware, energy is limited and the use of cameras, doors and lights will consume too much electricity for the night…
Amongst those plush toys, Freddy, Bonnie, Foxy, Chica, Mangle, BB, The Puppet, Bare Endoskeleton, and JJ.
A movie incarnation of the game was originally in the works at WB/New Line, who put it into turnaround. Gil Kenan (“Monster House”) was attached to direct at that stage.
Columbus, a far more dependable choice, is an old pro at family-friendly tentpoles. Among his many credits, “Home Alone”, “A Night at the Museum”, “Harry Potter”, “Adventures in Babysitting”, “Mrs. Doubtfire”, “Pixels” and ‘’Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief’’. He’s also an EP on the upcoming “Gremlins” reboot, having written the screenplay for the 1984 original.
News of the movie, and Columbus’s anointment, was first released on Twitter.
Mr. Columbus, are you ready for Freddy? #FiveNightsatFreddys pic.twitter.com/4F7QEnw16x
— Blumhouse (@blumhouse) February 12, 2018
