Chris Columbus has signed on to write, direct and produce a film adaptation of the popular horror video game series, Five Nights At Freddy’s.
The games began back in 2014, with the player controlling a security guard at a Chuck E. Cheese-esque establishment where the animatronic creatures are haunted. The player must choose how to divert power between locks and security cameras in order to avoid being killed.
Unsurprisingly, Blumhouse is producing the film, alongside Scott Cawthon, creator of the hit franchise. The rights for the adaptation originally landed at New Line and Gil Kenan (Poltergeist) was in line to direct, before the project was put into turnaround and Blumhouse snagged the rights last March.
That means that the film will have to be made on Blumhouse’s smaller budget, but the games fit with a tighter budget since they mostly take place in one location and are more about atmosphere above anything else.
Columbus is an interesting name to be attached to a project like this, as he arguably hasn’t directed anything of note since 2002’s Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets and has recently been churning out YA films (Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief) or just bad ideas (Pixels).
However, he did write Gremlins, so maybe that’s the kind of experience to expect from Five Nights At Freddy’s. Considering the game is such an interactive experience, it will be interesting to see how it’s adapted for the silver screen.
Infamously, we’re still waiting for a consensually great film based on a video game, and who knows, maybe this turns out to be it. The source material is there for a great horror film, it will simply be about successfully emulating that experience on the big screen, something numerous directors have failed to do thus far with video game adaptations.
#Peace.Love.FiveNightsAtFreddys
