After more than seven years in development, Jason Blum and his film team finally seem to be on the move. Five Nights at Freddy's hit like a viral bomb when it launched in 2014. In fact, it was streamed by every YouTuber worth knowing and the format was perfect for the medium. The survival-horror premise with security cameras, lights, doors and vents as the only defence against the colourful mascots that suddenly came to life, guaranteed great entertainment and their "Let's Plays" topped the charts on the Tube for a long time.
It wasn't long before the movie companies saw the potential and eventually Warner Bros. picked up the rights in 2015. They put Seth Grahame-Smith, Roy Lee and David Katzenberg in charge of the project, which in turn appointed Gil Kenan (Ghostbusters: Afterlife) as director and Tyler Burton Smith (The Evil Doll) as screenwriter. Then it ran into problems. Game developer Cawthon didn't think the creative choices made by Warner Bros. suited the franchise at all, and the deal eventually fell through and Blumhouse Productions took over the rights. Here, Harry Potter producer Chris Columbus was given overall responsibility, i.e. both directing and writing. That didn't end well either. When he failed to get his ideas across, he said goodbye and the project was once again left without direction. It was back to square one, but now things seems to move in the right direction.
Jason Blum has now revealed via Twitter that he is now working with Jim Henson's Creature Shop (The Muppet's Show, The Dark Crystal) and that they have begun work on the monsters. This update comes just a few months after Blum cryptically wrote that the project is dangerously close to being announced to the public. Whether this is what he was referring to or not, we can only speculate, but what is clear is that after so many years of waiting, there are at least concrete signs of life.
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