Warning: SPOILERS lie ahead for Five Nights at Freddy’s!
Summary
- The Five Nights at Freddy’s movie stays largely true to the source material’s lore, with the animatronics being confirmed as the ghosts of murdered children.
- One major change is the introduction of Vanessa as Afton’s daughter, a character not properly introduced in the games until Security Breach, nor having familial ties to the franchise’s villain.
- The movie also changes the timeline of certain elements, introducing Easter eggs that reference more than just the first game and potentially setting up a sequel.
While aiming to be as true to its source material as possible, co-writer/director Emma Tammi opens up about the major lore changes in the Five Nights at Freddy’s movie. Based on Scott Cawthon’s mammoth video game franchise, the movie centers on a troubled man hired as a security guard for the dilapidated Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, only to learn of a horrifying secret behind the animatronics that inhabit it. Josh Hutcherson leads the Five Nights at Freddy’s ensemble cast alongside Piper Rubio, Elizabeth Lail, Matthew Lillard, Mary Stuart Masterson and Kat Conner Sterling.
In honor of the movie’s release, SlashFilm spoke with Tammi to break down the long-awaited Five Nights at Freddy’s movie. When asked about keeping longtime fans of the game franchise in mind when putting it together, the co-writer/director acknowledged that the creative team took some liberties with the game lore in the hopes of delivering something “surprising and new” for all viewers. Check out what Tammi explained below:
I hope that people feel like the fabric and the feeling of ‘Freddy’s’ is completely woven into the movie and delivers on the thing that they wanted, but also is surprising and new and different as well. We were really lucky to be working with Scott [Cawthon] on this, so his instincts for what was going to resonate with the fans, I really trust.
How True The Five Nights At Freddy’s Movie Is To The Games’ Lore
Given Cawthon was on board as both a co-writer and producer for the movie, Five Nights at Freddy’s did stay largely true to the lore of its source material. Freddy and the rest of the animatronics were confirmed to be the ghosts of children abducted and murdered by the restaurant’s founder and owner William Afton. Additionally, the franchise’s main antagonist was revealed to have committed his murders in the yellow Springtrap bunny suit, ultimately being trapped inside with its springlocks and left for dead in the crumbling restaurant.
Despite the majority of its faithfulness, there were a few major changes to its lore. One of the biggest was the reveal that Lail’s Vanessa was Afton’s daughter, with the character not properly introduced in the games until Security Breach as an antagonist to the player as she was convinced into becoming a follower of Glitchtrap and serial killer. In the games, it was eventually revealed that Hutcherson’s Mike was actually Afton’s son, with later titles seeing him search for his father for an unknown plan. The movie also revealed that Afton kidnapped Mike’s younger brother, though where his spirit resides is unknown.
The other major change to the Five Nights at Freddy’s lore was the timeline in which certain elements were introduced. Prior to the movie’s release, Tammi frequently teased that Easter eggs would include nods to more than just the first game, with the inclusions of the Balloon Boy figures and the post-credits teasing the arrival of The Puppet in a potential follow-up to the movie bumping up their introductions from the games. While Five Nights at Freddy’s is getting poor reviews, early box office numbers make a sequel all the more possible.
Source: SlashFilm