‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ Movie Star Announces Bigger, Scarier Sequel

Key insights

• Josh Hutcherson announces a bigger and scarier sequel with new animatronics and an expanded world.
• The plot of Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 will continue Mike’s story.
• Hutcherson hints at a possible franchise future beyond Five Nights at Freddy’s 2.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 Star Josh Hutcherson has spoken out about expectations for the sequel to his upcoming film, warning that it will be a much bigger and scarier affair. The sequel is an adaptation of Scott Cawthon’s children’s horror games and will feature many of the regulars from the first film.

The first Five nights at Freddy’s The film was in development at Blumhouse Productions for almost ten years before finally being released in 2023. The film was a loose adaptation of the video game franchise and brought many of the famous killer animatronics to life on screen. Five nights at Freddy’s proved a success, grossing nearly $300 million at the box office and breaking records, becoming Blumhouse’s highest-grossing film worldwide. Universal Pictures quickly announced a sequel, confirming that the new film would continue the story of the first film, in which Hutcherson played Mike, a security guard at the abandoned Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria.

Filming continues Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is set to open in New Orleans later in October, with Hutcherson reteaming with director Emma Tammi for the sequel. In an interview with Esquire, the actor confirmed that everything in the sequel would be bigger, including the filming schedule, which ranges from October to the end of January 2025. “It’s a lot bigger, there’s more at stake,” Hutcherson previously teased about the sequel: “More animatronics are introduced, other animatronics are introduced, and the world just opens up in a big way.” Hutcherson added that Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 will be “also scarier.” The original film earned a PG-13 rating because it avoided showing excessive bloodshed or on-screen deaths, relying primarily on its dark theme, jump scares, and the power of suggestion.

“It’s much bigger; There is more at stake. More animatronics are introduced, different animatronics are introduced, and the world just opens up in a big way. We’re finding the balance between building and expanding this world in a really cool way, but also making sure that the characters really stay grounded.

The plot of Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is under wraps, but will clearly continue the story of Mike, who was last seen solving the mystery of the haunted pizzeria. After surviving several nights with Freddy Fazbear, Mike and his sister Abby learned that the spirits of murdered children were housed in the animatronics and were trapped there by the murderer William Afton. After proving this to the animatronics, they turned against Afton and left him trapped in his own animatronic suit to die. It’s unclear where the sequel will go, but it will be interesting to see what new animatronics appear, with Hutcherson hinting that there will be others in the sequel.

Another clue came Five nights at Freddy’s 10th anniversary when Scott Cawthon released script pages from the upcoming film and asked viewers to guess whether they were real or not. It appears that Matthew Lillard will return as William Afton, despite his apparent demise at the end Five nights at Freddy’s. The actor confirmed that he would be filming with the rest of the crew in October 2024, meaning the film will bring him back in some form. It seems that way too Five nights at Freddy’s could have a franchise future, with Hutcherson commenting during the Esquire interview that the films “could potentially have a very long run” depending on the response to the sequel.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 Release is scheduled for December 5, 2025.