Chris Columbus, who helmed the first two 'Harry Potter' movies, has signed on to write, direct and produce the big-screen adaptation of Scott Cawthon's popular video game of the same name.
- Feb 13, 2018
AceShowbiz - Chris Columbus is ready to get spooky with robots for a "Five Nights at Freddy's" movie at Blumhouse. According to Deadline, the 59-year-old filmmaker has signed on to write, direct and produce the big-screen adaptation of Scott Cawthon's popular video game of the same name, which centers on a security guard battling animatronic robots that come to life in a Chuck E. Cheese-like venue.
Confirming the news, the production company took to its official Twitter account on Monday, February 12 to share a photo of two set chairs with the names of the helmer and the titular homicidal, possessed animatronic character written on them. "Mr. Columbus, are you ready for Freddy?" it wrote in the caption, adding the hashtag #FiveNightsatFreddys.
Mr. Columbus, are you ready for Freddy? #FiveNightsatFreddys pic.twitter.com/4F7QEnw16x
— Blumhouse (@blumhouse) February 12, 2018
Columbus is perhaps best known for directing the first two "Harry Potter" films for Warner Bros. as well as family friendly movies like "Mrs. Doubtfire" and "Home Alone", but he has dabbled in horror, having penned the script for classic horror-comedy "Gremlins" and executive produced period horror "The Witch".
Blumhouse landed "Five Nights at Freddy's" last March when the rights to the movie were put in turnaround by New Line. While every genre filmmaker wanted it, Blumhouse landed the property because producer Jason Blum won the allegiance of creator Cawthon. Columbus, Blum and Cawthon will produce the movie.
"Five Nights at Freddy's" challenges players to survive for five nights as a security guard in a demented pizza entertainment restaurant, where homicidal, possessed animatronics roam the halls in search of their next victims.
The first game in the series launched in August of 2014 and quickly became a sensation online, inspiring countless "Let's Play" videos. A sequel was released in November of the same year, followed by third and fourth entries in the following year, a fifth game in 2016 and a sixth game last year.
