The man who helped shape the worlds of Harry Potter, Gremlins and The Goonies is now moving into video game horror. Chris Columbus will write and direct Five Nights at Freddy’s, based on the popular video game series about a security guard battling evil animatronics in a pizza shop.
Image: Google
Blumhouse Productions acquired the rights to the franchise last year after New Line put it in turnaround. Then the studio posted this image on its Twitter today, revealing that the project is moving forward with Columbus.
Mr. Columbus, are you ready for Freddy? #FiveNightsatFreddys pic.twitter.com/4F7QEnw16x
— Blumhouse (@blumhouse) February 12, 2018
Five Nights at Freddy’s is kind of like if Toy Story took place in Chuck E. Cheese, but as a horror movie. The whole thing began as a game franchise and then moved into various other mediums with multiple sequels and spinoffs. It’s one of those rare brand names that is known well by a rabid fan base, but maybe not as well by the mainstream, giving it unique crossover potential for a movie. Then add in the terrifying premise of battling living animatronics in a dark, closed environment, and you can start to see why Blumhouse was so interested and went after a name like Columbus.
Columbus was thought to be working on a new sequel to Gremlins, but with this announcement, it seems unlikely that will be coming any time soon. His last film was the atrocious Pixels, but he has a long history of great work and starting brand name franchises. Hopefully, he can do that with Freddy as well.
[Deadline]