Spoilers ahead for the ending of the Five Nights at Freddy’s movie and several of the franchise’s video games.
Packed with Easter eggs and references to its source material, the Five Nights at Freddy’s movie sets up several potential sequel and spinoff films. Created by Scott Cawthon in 2014, the first game in the Five Nights at Freddy’s multimedia franchise sees the player stepping into the shoes of Mike Schmidt, a nighttime security guard at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria. The now-defunct family friendly restaurant is a send-up of Chuck E. Cheese, but with one stark difference: its animatronic characters — Freddy Fazbear, Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy — go on homicidal rampages at night. The ultra-popular, nine-game series has spawned book tie-ins and, finally, a film.
The Five Nights at Freddy’s movie also centers on Mike (Josh Hutcherson), though it fleshes out his backstory pretty immediately. The sole caretaker of his younger sister, Abby (Piper Rubio), Mike is haunted by his brother Garrett’s abduction, which happened in broad daylight decades earlier. Struggling to retain custody of Abby, Mike takes up the security job at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria. The intriguing Five Nights at Freddy’s ending, which sets the franchise up for future installments, isn’t the only reason the FNAF cinematic universe will continue. It also broke several box office records in October 2023, boasting Blumhouse’s best opening weekend ever. Needless to say, there will be FNAF sequels.
6 Come Find Me Sets Up Five Nights At Freddy’s 2
Many viewers believe the Five Nights at Freddy’s “come find me” tease is a clear nod toward what the first cinematic sequel will cover. The hint lies in the final moments of the FNAF movie’s end credits. Just as the credits finish rolling, a modulated voice announces a string of letters that flash across the screen. The phrase the voice spells out is “come find me,” which could be a reference to Mike’s continued search for his abducted brother, Garrett. On the other hand, just before the “come find me” message, a song called “My Grandfather Clock” plays.
An all-important song in Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, “My Grandfather Clock” is the tune that churns out of a strange music box — one that wards off the sequel’s antagonist: the Puppet. One of the more unsettling villains in the FNAF universe — and that’s really saying something — the Puppet has a unique look and approach that would lend a new feel to a second Five Nights at Freddy’s film that’s looking to distinguish itself from the first outing. Not to mention, using the Puppet as the second movie’s antagonist would be a fun way to parallel the video game franchise.
5 Circus Baby Sets Up A FNAF: Sister Location Spinoff
The Five Nights at Freddy’s Circus Baby Easter egg in the movie teases a very probable spinoff: Sister Location. In the film, the haunting animatronics are determined to have Abby join their ranks, so they lure her back to the pizzeria. In a back room, an empty animatronic that’s vaguely doll-shaped lies in wait for her. Sharp-eyed Five Nights at Freddy’s fans will recognize the animatronic husk as Circus Baby, another of William Afton’s (Matthew Lillard) disturbing creations. The antagonist of the fifth FNAF game, Circus Baby isn’t the only reference to Sister Location, which also delves deeper into Afton’s past.
4 FNAF Movie’s Key Scenes & Vanessa Inclusion Tease A Security Breach Sequel
In a surprising turn of events, Abby strikes up a friendship with the children inhabiting the animatronic suits of Freddy and the gang. Convinced that they’ll trade their murderous rampages for some wholesome fun, Abby persuades Mike and Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail) to build a fort for her and the animatronics. What ensues is a bizarre tonal shift — a campy, amusing scene in which the robots and humans work together to build a great sleepover dwelling in the middle of the pizzeria. Of course, an animatronic and human team-up isn’t unheard of in the FNAF games either.
In Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach, the game’s protagonist, Gregory, has to evade glam-rock-inspired versions of Freddy and friends in a mall. At one point, he joins forces with Freddy by taking refuge in Fazbear’s exoskeleton to avoid life-threatening danger. While it’s not quite the same as building a fort with the animatronics, the team-ups tease that the homicidal robots might not be all gloom and doom. Plus, Security Breach is also the first game to introduce Vanessa, who seems to survive the events of the FNAF movie.
3 The “Come Find Me” Message Could Tease A Bite Of ’83 Prequel
While the use of “My Grandfather Clock” creates a pretty compelling argument for the Puppet’s inclusion in the next Five Nights at Freddy’s film, there’s also the possibility that the “come find me” tease was a nod to Mike and Abby’s brother, Garrett. By the end of the film, it’s confirmed that the late Schmidt sibling was abducted by William Afton, the allegedly undying force behind Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria. However, audiences aren’t given all the details of what happens to Mike’s brother, Garrett. This leaves the door open to a FNAF prequel about Garrett, Afton, and the legendary “Bite of ’83.”
2 FNAF Movie’s Animatronics Echo Those In Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria Simulator
Released in 2017, Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria Simulator is a point-and-click business simulation game that slowly descends into being a survival horror outing. After the player completes a series of mini-games, they’ll be tasked with making sure none of Afton’s haunting animatronics crawl out of the ducts and into the newly established restaurant. The installment boasts several different endings, with each adding new elements to the Five Nights at Freddy’s lore and providing startlingly different fates for the series’ terrifying animatronics.
Most intriguing, however, is the connections the game makes between series’ protagonists and the souls trapped within the animatronics — a theme the movie also explores. Like in Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria Simulator, the animatronics have good reason for what they’re doing, which is a compelling thread all its own. The game also sheds more light on Henry Emily, the other co-founder of Fazbear Entertainment. Unlike the bloodthirsty Afton, Henry has other intentions for the animatronics — and the souls trapped within them.
1 Balloon Boy Theories Point To Several Intriguing Sequel Directions
Throughout the Five Nights at Freddy’s movie, Balloon Boy serves up several jump scares. Since the tiny animatronic character was introduced in Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, its prominence feeds into the theory that the sequel movie will adapt key parts of the second game. However, there are some other compelling theories swirling around the identity of the film’s version of Balloon Boy, with some viewers suggesting he’s the vessel for Garrett’s soul. It would explain why BB seemed to follow Mike around so much during the Five Nights at Freddy’s movie (and why the character hails an end-credits cab — potentially in pursuit of his siblings).
In addition to being in theaters, Five Nights at Freddy’s streams exclusively on Peacock.
