Five Nights at Freddy’s Creator Thanks Fans Who Didn’t Watch Leaked Movie Trailer

Five Nights at Freddy’s creator Scott Cawthon expressed his gratitude to fans for resisting a first look at the upcoming film adaptation after an unfinished version of the trailer leaked online.

The gross trailer started making rounds on social media over the weekend, but many fans shared warnings about the leak and refused to watch the trailer. Cawthon, who is the film’s writer and producer, responded to the situation on the Five Night at Freddy’s subreddit.

Cawthon became aware of the leak during a day at an amusement park with his children. He said he felt “really, really discouraged” that the trailer was uploaded before it was ready, but was so grateful to find out that a large part of the base of fans had resisted looking at the footage.

“I know Blumhouse and Universal (and me too) have all worked really hard to create something really exciting to share,” he wrote. “So the idea of ​​a first look being spoiled was frustrating, and I was really dreading coming home to see what had happened while I was away.

“To my surprise, I came home to find many YouTube channels refusing to make videos on them, Twitter channels refusing to repost them, countless members refusing to watch them, and moderators taking a stand against the permission to discuss it,” he said. added in his appreciation note.

“It was really encouraging to see the fanbase pull together and push back against it,” he said. “For those of you who resisted watching it, I think you’ll be much happier when you can see an edited and polished finished product, complete with proper visuals and sounds.”

The Five Nights at Freddy’s movie has had its fair share of production issues since it was first announced in 2015. Jason Blum’s production company, Blumhouse, acquired the film rights in 2017 after Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema pulled the production film.

Blum originally tapped Harry Potter director Chris Columbus to helm the film, with himself and Cawthon both attached as producers. In November 2018, Cawthon tossed the working script over fears it wouldn’t match his vision for the film adaptation.

Columbus then left the project, forcing Blumhouse to find a new director in Emma Tammi. Production finally kicked off in February of this year, with Jim Henson’s Creature Shop creating costumes to help bring the beloved, yet chilling, animatronic horrors to the big screen.

The film, starring Matthew Lillard and Josh Hutcherson in the lead roles, follows a struggling security guard as he starts working at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. However, as he spends his first night on the job, he realizes that the night shift at Freddy’s won’t be so easy going.

Five Nights At Freddy’s will be released a few days before Halloween on October 27, 2023. The film will also be released day and date with a theatrical release on the Peacock streaming service.

Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.