Summary
- Josh Hutcherson teases 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 potential franchise future beyond Five Nights at Freddy's 2.
Five Nights at Freddy's 2 star Josh Hutcherson has commented on the expectations for his upcoming movie sequel, 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 movie.
The first Five Nights at Freddy's movie was in development at Blumhouse productions for almost ten years before it was finally released in 2023. The movie was a loose adaptation of the video game franchise and brought many of the famed killer animatronics to life on-screen. Five Nights at Freddy's proved to be a hit, raking in almost $300 million at the box office and breaking records to become Blumhouse's highest-grossing film worldwide. Universal Pictures quickly announced a sequel, confirming that the new movie would continue the story set up in the first movie, which saw Hutcherson star as Mike, a security guard at the abandoned Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria.
Filming on Five Nights at Freddy's 2 is expected to start in New Orleans later in October, with Hutcherson rejoining director Emma Tammi for the sequel. In an interview with Esquire, the actor confirmed everything in the sequel would be bigger, including the filming time which stretches from October through the end of January 2025. "It's much bigger, the stakes are higher," Hutcherson said of the sequel, before teasing "there's more animatronics being brought in, different animatronics being brought in, and the world just opens up in a big way." Hutcherson added that Five Nights at Freddy's 2 will be "scarier, too." The original film skated by on a PG-13 rating by avoiding showing any excessive bloodshed or deaths on-screen, mainly relying on its dark subject matter, jump scares, and the power of suggestion.
“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. 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.
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 multiple nights at Freddy Fazbear's, Mike and his sister, Abby, learned that the spirits of murdered children were housed inside the animatronics, and were trapped there by the killer, William Afton. After proving this to the animatronics, they turned on Afton and left him trapped within his own animatronic suit to die. It's unclear where the sequel will go from here but, it will be interesting to see which new animatronics appear, with Hutcherson hinting there will be different ones in the sequel.
Another hint came on Five Nights at Freddy's 10th Anniversary, when Scott Cawthon shared script pages from the upcoming film, imploring 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 of Five Nights at Freddy's. The actor confirmed he would be filming with the rest of the crew in October 2024, meaning the film will bring him back in some shape or form. It also seems that Five Nights at Freddy's could have a franchise future, with Hutcherson commenting during the Esquire interview that the films "could have a very potentially long run," depending on the reception to the sequel.
Five Nights at Freddy's 2 is scheduled for release on December 5, 2025.
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