Blumhouse Productions is rather busy at the moment and looking at the future with big bets such as a new Blair Witch movie and Todd McFarlane’s long-in-the-works Spawn reboot. Now, it’s got another surefire winner on its hands: Five Nights at Freddy’s 2.
In year full so far of surprising horror movie news, this is perhaps the least shocking, as the first Five Nights at Freddy’s massively overperformed late last year, earning almost $300 million worldwide (a number that, for reference, the latest theatrical Marvel Studios production didn’t even begin to sniff at) on a small $20 million budget. That’s the power of Blumhouse’s magic, combined with an extremely faithful fanbase.
The announcement (via Variety) of FNAF 2 arriving in late 2025 was one of the biggest reveals that happened during Universal Pictures’ CinemaCon 2024 event, where no further release date, plot, or cast details were shared. However, writer-director Emma Tammi has been expected to return for a while, should she accept the mission. “I’m dying to get back on set. Emma Tammi, our director, was fantastic, and it was such a fun world to play in. I’m excited to see what they are doing next,” star Josh Hutcherson said earlier this year.
While the overall critical reception was dreadful, fans (especially the younger ones) seemed to like the first movie well enough, which half-explains how big it became. The other secret to its success was releasing just in time for Halloween, a slot that usually guarantees at least making your money back if you’re releasing a horror flick.
Blumhouse founder and CEO Jason Blum has been quite vocal about the expectations surrounding FNAF and, later, its success story (the studio’s biggest), praising director Emma Tammi and teasing more was coming sooner rather than later. So far, it looks like the studio’ll be able to expand it into a huge horror movie franchise that mirrors Scott Cawthon’s hit video game (now transmedia) universe.