“Five Nights at Freddy’s,” or FNaF for short, is a series of popular video games first created in 2014 by Scott Cawthon and centered around surviving against animatronics connected to “Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza.” The video games have been highly rated and in 2023, were given a movie adaptation starring Josh Hutcherson and Elizabeth Lail.
The first game in the FNaF series was released Aug. 8, 2014, and the playable character it followed was security guard Mike Schmidt. Throughout 2014 to 2025, the series has had numerous more games, some notable ones being “Five Nights at Freddy’s: Sister Location” and “Five Nights at Freddy’s 4.”
As the games progressed, so did the story, with new protagonists every game. However, when theorizing about FNaF 1, most fans agree that the security guard, Mike Schmidt, was actually Michael Afton, the son of William Afton, the main antagonist and the creator of the animatronics. With this, the story expanded, and it was revealed that the rest of the Afton family died because of William’s animatronics.
“My favorite [Five Nights at Freddy’s] game was definitely the first one. [It] was the game that made me start to become interested in the franchise. I love the small details that were put into the game and how it was so original,” freshman Madison Romero said.
On Oct. 27, 2023, the FNaF movie was released in theaters and on streaming. During its opening weekend, it earned $78 million domestically and $132 million globally. However, long-time fans were quick to point out the movie and video game differences.
“The main thing I saw was that the animatronics didn’t want to kill anyone. They weren’t as scary as they should be compared to the game. Another detail is how they added ‘Abby’ into the movie. At first, I was confused, but as I saw how she fit into this, it made more sense in the end,” Romero said.
One of the big differences between the two is the movie’s timeline of events. In the film, the pizzeria has been closed for a while, and the movie takes place in the early 2000s, while the first game takes place in the early 90s. The biggest change, however, was the change in character origins.
“Vanessa’s role in the game is that she is essentially the main antagonist for the game. In the movie, she is completely different and is acting as a guide for Mike and helps him throughout the movie,” freshman Caleb Valencia said.
In the movie, police officer Vanessa Shelly (or Vanessa Afton) was a helping hand to the main protagonist, Mike Schmidt. However, FNaF 2023’s Mike is not the game’s Michael Afton. Instead, he’s a regular security guard with the same name as the alias game Michael used. Additionally, Vanessa in the games served as an antagonist in a few cases through her alter ego, Vanny.
The difference between Vanessa and Mike’s characters in the video games compared to the movies caused a lot of confusion with the game’s fanbase. Although it isn’t the first time an adaptation has changed parts of the media it was based upon, it turned a lot of viewers away from the movie.
Not only were the origins swapped, but the addition of Abby Schmidt, who did not exist in the games, contributed to the–what fans deem–unnecessary changes. In FNaF 1, Abby was introduced as Mike’s sister, and her storyline was a key plot point.
“There wasn’t much about the FNaF movie that I liked, but the plot was alright. I generally liked the cast, like Josh Hutcherson,” Valencia said. “I didn’t really enjoy the changes that they [made] to Mike because they started to stray away from the main point of his character that was known throughout the games.”
The sequel movie, “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2,” is scheduled to release Dec. 5, 2025, with Cawthon in the writer’s seat and returning director Emma Tammi alongside him. The premise of FNaF 2 is the returning characters reconnecting with the animatronics and trying to figure out the origins behind Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. It was first speculated to be based on the second game, which is a prequel; however, producers have stated the movie takes place a year after the first one instead.
The movie is expected to have some new cast members, including Megan Fox and Skeet Ulrich. Blumhouse confirmed that FNaF 2 would introduce the toy animatronics from the games, namely Toy Chica, Toy Bonnie, and Toy Freddie.
“I like the nostalgia of [the movies] because I remember watching a ton of FNaF videos when I was younger. I hope to see more suspense, and maybe more backgrounds for the characters,” sophomore Emily Nolan said.
