The live-action Five Nights at Freddy’s movie released last year and despite middling reviews, it turned out to be a box office success, earning $291 million worldwide. A sequel was quickly greenlit by Universal Pictures, which has yet to commence filming. According to actor Josh Hutcherson, who plays the protagonist Mike Schmidt in the movies, the sequel is shaping up to be a lot scarier than the first movie.
One of the main complaints about the first Five Nights at Freddy’s movie was its lack of genuine scares. This is in stark contrast to the popular indie games which it’s based on, often regarded as some of the scariest indie horror titles in gaming. According to Josh Hutcherson, the producers have learned a few valuable lessons from the first movie and want the sequel to be “bigger and scarier” than its predecessor.
Hutcherson stated in an interview with Esquire:
“It’s gonna be scarier. It’s much bigger; the stakes are higher… There’s more animatronics being brought in, different animatronics being brought in, and the world just opens up in a big way.”
The sequel will apparently be based on the Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 video game, introducing the toy animatronics alongside the Puppet and Balloon Boy. It’s presumed that the sequel will introduce more familiar animatronics while continuing the William Afton storyline set up in the first movie.
Hutcherson offered a few more details about the sequel, talking about its different, grounded approach:
“We’re finding the balance right now of building this world and expanding it in a really cool way but also making sure the characters stay really grounded. That’s something that I really think that we all fought for in the first film, because this world that was created in Five Nights at Freddy’s, it’s so out-there. It’s so over-the-top and wacky, in a way, that to find the emotional truth of the characters was gonna be what was gonna work.”
Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 hits cinemas on 5 December 2025. Hutcherson and Matthew Lillard are the only returning actors confirmed so far.
Source: Esquire