Five Nights at Freddy’s, the “Evil Chuck E. Cheese” Game, Gets a Movie

Honestly, I’m not sure why some version of this pitch hasn’t been made before. Hell, back in my film school days, there was a kid in my class who was pitching a horror version of Chuck E. Cheese as his student short (I’ve no idea where he would have found the money to build an animatronic – and in the end I don’t think he made it. But still).

Five Nights at Freddy’s, the game that has you working night security at a pizza place full of scary animatronics, has just been optioned for a movie by Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter author Seth Grahame-Smith, who intends to work closely with game creator Scott Cawthon. Honestly, Hollywood could easily have just ripped off the notion, so buying the actual IP feels like good sportsmanship. Now, how to expand the story so it’s about more than opening and closing doors at the right time?

If it were me, I’d mash-up this franchise with Paul Blart, and have Freddy Fazbear’s be part of a much larger mall at night. Just so long as Kevin James agrees to pull a Janet Leigh and get surprisingly killed off 20 minutes in.