The writer behind Five Nights at Freddy’s 3 is not who you expect

Right, here we go again with the animatronic carnage. 'Five Nights at Freddy's' - yes, the video game adaptation that took cinemas and streaming by storm in 2023 - has officially morphed into one of Blumhouse's biggest moneymakers, raking in a frankly absurd $295 million. That's more than 'Split', 'M3GAN', 'The Invisible Man', and the lot. Frankly, it's a surprise considering we're talking about haunted pizza parlour mascots, not Michael Myers or demonic dolls.

As you’d expect, money talks, so we got a sequel the following year. 'Five Nights at Freddy's 2' didn't quite hit the same highs (landing at $239 million, which is still nothing to scoff at), but it's clear Freddy’s is now officially a franchise machine. Which brings us neatly to the third film – and this is where things get a tad messy behind the scenes.

How Are These Films Even About?

If you're one of the three people who missed the first film: A deeply traumatised security guard lands a job at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, only to discover that the animatronics don't stay on their stages after hours. Cue plenty of nervous torch shining, creaky doors, and children’s party mascots turning distinctly murdery.

The sequel jumps forward a year. The events at Freddy's have already become the stuff of local ghost stories, spawning 'Fazfest', which is probably as naff as it sounds. Our original protagonist Mike (Josh Hutcherson) and local cop Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail) are trying their best to keep all the supernatural horror under wraps, especially from Mike's younger sister, Abby (Piper Rubio). But if there’s one rule in horror, it's that kids do not stay out of trouble – Abby sneaks off to reunite with Freddy and the rest, unwittingly unleashing some fresh nightmare fuel and digging up even darker secrets about the place.

The Seriously Complicated Road to Screen

This franchise didn't exactly fly straight from game disc to cinema screen. At first, Warner Bros. had the rights, with Gil Kenan (who did 'Monster House') due to direct from a script he co-wrote with Tyler Burton Smith (of the 'Child’s Play' reboot). That version went nowhere. Then Blumhouse picked it up and had Chris Columbus (yes, the man who did 'Home Alone' and 'Harry Potter') lined up for a while. Finally, Emma Tammi took over, and the first film we actually saw was from her, working off a script she co-wrote with Seth Cuddeback and Scott Cawthon (the game’s creator). They also tagged in Tyler MacIntyre and Chris Lee Hill (the 'Tragedy Girls' writers) for some story credit. As for 'Five Nights at Freddy’s 2', Tammi returned, but Scott Cawthon went solo on the script.

So... Who’s Writing 'Five Nights at Freddy’s 3'?

Now, here’s where it gets proper gossipy. Skeet Ulrich, who was in the second film, turned up at the Spawn of ScareFest convention the other week and dropped a bit of news that’s got horror fans scratching their heads. His quote, as it’s been reported:

"We’re waiting on the third script to make the third film. The guy who wrote It and It Follows is writing it right now. Apparently, it’s a lot of [Matthew Lillard] and I."

Except, if you know your horror writers, you’ll immediately spot a problem: 'It' and 'It Follows' weren’t written by the same bloke. David Robert Mitchell did 'It Follows' (plus 'Under the Silver Lake'), and he’s currently tied up with a sequel called 'They Follow'. But 'It' (the Stephen King adaptation) was written by Gary Dauberman, who had nothing to do with 'It Follows'.

So, either Ulrich got his horror credits wires crossed, or he just misspoke under the pressure of the convention microphoning. To clarify:

• David Robert Mitchell: Wrote/directed 'It Follows', 'Under the Silver Lake', currently making 'They Follow'. Not linked to Stephen King’s 'It'.
• Gary Dauberman: Wrote both 'It' movies (and 'Annabelle: Creation', 'The Nun', and a new 'Salem’s Lot'), but hasn’t touched 'It Follows'.

Given Dauberman’s CV leans heavily on haunted children’s tales and supernatural shenanigans, he fits the bill for 'Five Nights at Freddy’s 3' far better than Mitchell. No official word from Blumhouse as of now, but if you were betting on which horror writer is handling killer animatronics next, smart money’s on Dauberman.