Josh Hutcherson confirms that a Five Nights At Freddy's sequel is in the works

Five Nights At Freddy's, the horror film that's based on the video game of the same name, will be getting a sequel. Josh Hutcherson, the star of the movie, revealed to Variety confirmed the news, following a text his Hunger Games co-star, Jennifer Lawrence, sent him. This is superior for fans of the Freddy franchise, as they'll experience a second haunting of their favorite animatronic characters.

In case you don't have a clue what Five Nights Of Freddy's is, it's a survival game that takes place in an abandoned 1980s pizza arcade, where the souls of murdered children are entrapped in the decaying animatronic characters who are led by Freddy the Bear. Others in his "musical" clan include Chica the Chicken, Foxy the Fox, and Bonnie the Rabbit. Players must also figure out how to fight off the animatronics before they become entrapped in the animatronics' bodies. In the film's version, Hutcherson portrays Mike Schmidt, a night guard who now keeps watch on the arcade but now has a much larger issue to deal with. His young sister, Abby, is enamored with the robotic animals, but they have something sinister in mind. Mike must stop them before Abby becomes a victim of the animatronics' "game."

Hutcherson is excited about the new project and can't wait to return to the FATF set to bring the new chapter to life.

"I know they're in the process right now of nailing down the story, and [the writers] want to get going as soon as possible," Hutcherson revealed to Variety on January 8th. "Obviously, the fans are amazing and die-hard. For me to be a part of it was so cool and phenomenal."

One of the key components why Five Nights At Freddy's universe resonated with the audience (at least for me) was the 1980s aesthetic, making the arcade feel realistic and nostalgic for those who grew up in the era. Pizza arcades was the place to be and while Freddy's may not be the ideal direction to reintroduce the pizza arcade, I give them major points for instilling a new hype for today's generation.

As for Hutcherson, having that connection between the audience and the film was vital, but he had no idea how strong that link would be. With the second installment now in place, that connection is expected to go even further.

"We hoped it would connect with audiences," he revealed more to Variety. "But I don’t think that anybody, even on our side of things, expected it to really connect the way that it did. 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.”

As for that text between Hutcherson and Lawrence? It was regarding the sheer success of their two films. Lawrence's movie, No Hard Feelings, dominated the Netflix streaming charts, while Five Nights was a Box Office smash and one of Peacock's most-watched productions of 2023.