Movies
‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ Being Played by ‘Gremlins’ and ‘Goonies’ Writer Chris Columbus!
Chris Columbus has signed on to write, direct and produce Blumhouse’s long-gestured screen adaptation of Scott Cawthon’s popular video game Five Nights at Freddy’s, which centers around a security guard battling animatronic robots that come to life in a Chuck E. Cheese-like venue, reports Deadline.
Blumhouse landed Five Nights at Freddy’s last March when the movie rights to the video game were put in turnaround by New Line.
Cawthon will produce alongside Columbus and Blumhouse’s Jason Blum. Cawthon launched the original game in 2014 and it became an immediate online sensation, ultimately generating billions of views on YouTube. Five Nights at Freddy‘s spans six different games. Each of the games that were released as mobile apps ranked at the top of Android and iOS app stores upon release. To date, the franchise includes a series of best-selling novels and top-performing retail merchandise lines.
Columbus has a long streak with haunted classics going back to his screenwriting days on Gremlins, The Goonies and Young Sherlock Holmes. As the director of such landmark tentpoles as Home Alone, Mrs. Doubtfire, and the first two Harry Potter titles, Columbus’ credits count over $4.1 billion at the global box office. His producing credits include Night at the Museum and The Help, the latter of which he was nominated for a best picture Oscar.
Gil Kenan, who had directed MGM’s recent iteration of Poltergeist, was the last filmmaker to take a crack at Five Nights at Freddy‘s as director and co-scribe when the brand was set up at Warner Bros./New Line.
Sunrise Films has announced the official North American release of William Bagley‘s horror comedy Hold the Fort, and it’s accompanied by an energetic new trailer.
Hold the Fort debuts on digital platforms on June 23.
In the film, “Lucas and Jenny think their life is finally coming together when the couple become homeowners. Little do they know that their new house comes with a big catch. Lucas and Jenny soon find themselves in a fight for their lives when they become trapped in a battle between their Homeowners Association and an onslaught of monsters from hell. The horror-comedy takes the timely concern of home-ownership and wraps this up in an entertaining action-packed thrill ride.“
Watch the new trailer below, which introduces one wild HOA gathering during an equinox. Things get bloody fast.
Chris Mayers (Adult Swim Yule Log), Haley Leary (“The Walking Dead”), Levi Burdick, and Julian Smith star.
William Bagley writes and directs, in addition to producing with Smith, Matt Dodd, Luke Williams, and Tim Reis (Adult Swim Yule Log).
Ahead of the release, Bagley said, “My goal with this film was to make a hilarious, fast-paced thrill ride while also telling a great story with heart. Hopefully, through all the blood, laughs, fights, and gags, you leave the film feeling inspired to tackle whatever life throws at you.“
Hold the Fort premiered at Fantasia last summer before going on to play FrightFest London, Toronto After Dark, and Beyond Fest.
I wrote in my review, “It’s an infectiously charming assemblage of jokes and monster vignettes bound together by a barebones plot with not much on its mind beyond delivering an entertaining time.”
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