The video game adaptation Five Nights at Freddy’s (read our review HERE) quickly became Blumhouse Productions’ highest-grossing movie when it reached theatres and the Peacock streaming service, surpassing the likes of Split, The Invisible Man, The Black Phone, M3GAN, the recent Halloween sequel trilogy, and the Paranormal Activity, Insidious, and The Purge franchises with its haul of $295 million. So, of course, there’s a sequel coming our way, aiming for a December 5, 2025 theatrical release – and today, a full trailer for Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 has dropped online! You can check it out in the embed above.
The first Five Nights at Freddy’s follows a troubled security guard as he begins working at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. While spending his first night on the job, he realizes the night shift at Freddy’s won’t be so easy to make it through. Now, a shocking new chapter of animatronic terror begins. One year has passed since the supernatural nightmare at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. The stories about what transpired there have been twisted into a campy local legend, inspiring the town’s first ever Fazfest. Former security guard Mike (Josh Hutcherson) and police officer Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail) have kept the truth from Mike’s 11-year-old sister, Abby (Piper Rubio), concerning the fate of her animatronic friends. But when Abby sneaks out to reconnect with Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy, it will set into motion a terrifying series of events, revealing dark secrets about the true origin of Freddy’s, and unleashing a long-forgotten horror hidden away for decades.
As the synopsis mentions, the first film’s stars Josh Hutcherson (The Hunger Games), Elizabeth Lail (You), and Piper Rubio (Holly & Ivy) have returned for Five Nights at Freddy’s 2. So have Matthew Lillard (Scream) and Theodus Crane (Underground). New characters are played by Freddy Carter (Shadow and Bone), Wayne Knight (Jurassic Park), Mckenna Grace (Ghostbusters franchise), Teo Briones (Final Destination: Bloodlines), and Lillard’s Scream co-star Skeet Ulrich.
The first adaptation was originally set up at Warner Bros., where Gil Kenan (Monster House) was going to direct the film from a screenplay he was writing with Tyler Burton Smith (the Child’s Play remake). Then the project moved over to Blumhouse, where Chris Columbus (Home Alone) was attached to direct it for several years. It finally went into production with Emma Tammi – director of The Wind, Into the Dark: Delivered, and Into the Dark: Blood Moon – at the helm, working from a screenplay she wrote with Seth Cuddeback (Mateo) and video game creator Scott Cawthon. Tragedy Girls writers Tyler MacIntyre and Chris Lee Hill share story credit with Cawthon. Tammi has directed the sequel from a script by Cawthon.
Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is produced by Blumhouse founder and CEO Jason Blum and Scott Cawthon, who also produced the first film. The executive producers are director Emma Tammi, Beatriz Sequeira, Christopher Warner, Russell Binder, and Marc Mostman. Jim Henson’s Creature Shop handled the special effects that bring the homicidal animatronic animals to life on the screen.
UPDATE: A Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 panel was just held at San Diego Comic-Con with several cast members in attendance. JoBlo’s own Chris Bumbray was there, and he sent in the following notes: The filmmakers said they worked with Jim Henson animatronics because they didn’t want to go the CGI Route, so they avoided them as much as possible. The sequel has more than three times as many animatronics compared to the first.
Teo Briones said he grew up playing the games. His character in the film is Alex, the videographer for a paranormal activity web show. Theodus Crane is back as the best friend of Hutcherson’s character Mike, and he’s concerned about Mike’s romance with Vanessa (Lail). He plays the audience surrogate. Crane said he loves the fandom; people have reached out to him on social media, and he had no idea how big it would be. Piper Rubio confirmed that this was hr first Comic-Con. She was very excited to be there and said she can’t believe the love for the franchise (the room was FULL). Her character misses Freddy and the gang, so she makes her own robot. She spends more time interacting with animatronics than anyone else in the film. Rubio loves that the animatronic characters are there physically but she says a lot of antics happen where parts fall off of them, and one even caught fire once. Josh Hutcherson said that seeing the animatronics through Rubio’s eyes is interesting because she loves them so much, while he finds them creepy.
In the sequel, Mike wants to get back to a nice normal life, but Hutcherson says it isn’t gonna happen.
What about Matthew Lillard? He’s not at Comic-Con but sent a video message saying he couldn’t believe “our little movie” has hit Hall H. He appreciates the fan base embracing him, and says he takes an unbelievable amount of pride in playing the part. Says if it’s a hit they’ll make a third and if they make a third he gets to kill Mike! He also introduced Skeet Ulrich, who started off by saying, “How amazing is Matthew Lillard? He’s just the best.” Who is Ulrich playing? He’s not allowed to say – but says he has a past with a deep emotional tie to what’s happening. He’s not allowed to say any more! He keeps in touch with Lillard. They didn’t see each other much in the first 10-15 years after Scream, but now that they’re doing signings at conventions together, they have come closer.
They filmmakers do want to make a Five Nights at Freddy’s 3, but as for the possibility of a Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach movie, there’s nothing to report at this time.
Attendees also saw a scene from the film: “McKenna Grace is the host of a paranormal show. Briones is her videographer. They visit Freddy’s and they find the animals (Freddy, Bonnie and Chika) all wrapped up. They ask about Foxy but they say she was taken apart by kids, reassembled and never the same again. They they hear some jack-in-the-box style music. End clip.”
What did you think of the Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 trailer? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
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