As horror film franchises have continued to grow in recent years, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is bringing one of the biggest faces in horror video games to the big screen once again after the first movie in 2023. While the video game franchise has always had a mᴀssive fanbase, the movie was very much a gamble, as Five Nights at Freddy’s story seemed like it was going to be very difficult to adapt into a traditional narrative.
While Five Nights at Freddy’s critical reviews were pretty mixed, only earning a 32% score on Rotten Tomatoes, the movie found a pretty big audience outside of critics, earning nearly $300 million and becoming Blumhouse’s highest-grossing film worldwide ever. The movie was fine, certainly not one of the worst video game adaptations out there, but it was definitely more enjoyable for fans of the original games. However, Five Nights at Freddy‘s 2 will try to top that, and some recent comments about the sequel seem to indicate that it could very well pull it off.
Fan Concerns Were Listened To During Five Nights At Freddy’s 2 Development
The Filmmakers Were Listening To All The Feedback They Got
In a recent interview, Matthew Lillard spoke about Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, revealing some very exciting, albeit vague, information about how the sequel is being made. The first movie was much more of an experiment by the director and screenwriters, but Lillard claimed that the sequel has taken into account a lot of feedback from fans to produce something that is more in line with their expectations. While plenty of people enjoyed the first movie, it had a lot of flaws, and the filmmakers clearly know this. Read Lillard’s full response below:
But I do think that the movie learned first time around, I think Scott, as a primary storyteller, listened to the audience. [It’s] what he does best. He knows that community so well. And I think that he’s responded with a script that… maybe it has more jump scares. Maybe it’s a little more action-packed. I don’t know. I’m not here to say “yes it is”, or “no it’s not.”
Five Nights At Freddy’s 2 Listening To Fans Is A Good Sign For The Sequel
The Next Movie Can Improve On The First One’s Big Issues
One of the biggest complaints about the first Five Nights at Freddy’s was the fact that the movie didn’t really have any scares, something that was integral to the games. The film was rated PG-13, and the sequel is going to be the same, so there won’t be any gore or extreme violence, but there are still plenty of ways to make the movie scarier and more in line with the spirit of the video game.
The horror aspect was definitely the biggest point of criticism, but the movie also suffered from a very generic story and some pretty flat characters.
However, that wasn’t the only issue with the movie, and hopefully, the filmmakers are taking the feedback about the rest of the movie to heart as well. The horror aspect was definitely the biggest point of criticism, but the movie also suffered from a very generic story and some pretty flat characters, despite Josh Hutcherson and Lillard’s great performances. While nothing was said about these aspects of the film specifically, the filmmakers are presumably also aware of these complaints and will be working to fix them, too.
If Five Nights At Freddy’s 2 Is More Like The Games, I’m Confident It’ll Be Better Than The First Movie
Leaning Into The Horror Of The Games Will Help It Stand Out
While the first movie was fun enough, it wasn’t anything revolutionary, and while it had some references to the games, it felt like a fairly generic PG-13 horror movie. While there is definitely a place for those kinds of movies, the Five Nights at Freddy’s games are so mᴀssive that it felt like it could’ve been so much more. If the sequel manages to take more of the horror aspects from the games and integrate them with a more interesting story, then FNAF 2 could live up to the legacy of the game franchise.
That’s not to say that Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 should lift everything from the video game, as maintaining a unique story that isn’t simply a one-for-one recreation of the video game lore will keep the franchise feeling fresh and surprising. Five Nights at Freddy‘s ending teased the arrival of Springtrap in the sequel, and that the character’s design and backstory are a great vehicle to add more actual horror to the sequel, which will hopefully mean that the sequel will manage to surpᴀss the first movie.
Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is set to release in theaters on December 5, 2025.
