The smash success of the sequel based on Scott Cawthon’sFive Nights at Freddy’s game franchise has surpassed the 100 million dollar mark domestically at the box office, with O.G. and new fans fueling Fazbear franchise frenzy.
With that, Blumhouse and Universal Pictures have solidified their very own gateway horror mainstay, and the sequel brings in more fun with the Toy Freddy and friends lineup from the second game being brought into the mix to expand the roster of horrific mascot movie horrors.
Recently, we caught up with director Emma Tammi to discuss representing Y2K-era childhood on screen while remaining true to the lore of the beloved video games.
Congratulations on the film. I’m a huge FNAF convert. I really love seeing an era that’s not often represented, specifically with Abby (Piper Rubio) and her journey as a Y2K kid. And so for me, my way into these films has been your vision for her character. I just want to know more about what inspired Abby’s journey, being a sort of wish fulfillment that I think a lot of us from that era love seeing unfold, even if we didn’t play the games.
Tammi: Totally. I love that. She, in so many ways, was the key to, I think, seeing this world from multiple perspectives, not just total terror and mayhem, which, of course, is a big part of it and super fun. But the fact that Abby has this deeper connection with the ghost kids inside of the animatronics in movie one and then carries that love and adoration for them into movie two, you know, it just created all these other levels for, I think, the way in which the audience experiences the animatronics. And without her seeing them in that light, I just—I think the film would lose some of its wonderment, and simultaneously, it would also not be as scary because one of the things that’s so great about these characters, the animatronic characters, is that they can flip on a dime, and you don’t know when they’re going to.
So I think that uncertainty really also helps with the horror aspect of it. And then, of course, the other really, really important element that Abby brings to the table is her relationship with Mike. And the way in which she, our actress, Piper Rubio (Abby Schmidt), and Josh Hutcherson (Mike Schmidt) connected on screen and off screen was super powerful. So that just felt like the heart of the film and the relationships that we were rooting for the most from the get-go. And that was really essential in both films.
How did you and Scott (Cawthon) work together to integrate more of the lore and horror set pieces from the game into the cinematic world but still find that balance with Abby’s journey—in particular with how her story finds its way into the marionette being the big bad of it all?
Tammi: Yes, totally. I mean, yeah, that’s such a cool intersection, I think, that we were able to bring all of the lore from game two and the marionette worlds, if you will, and really have it intersect with Abby’s journey and more than intersect, literally merge at one point. That was one of my favorite parts about making the film as well. And again, going back to Piper Rubio for a second, she just like inhabited that version of herself in such a fully committed and deeply creepy way that we were all just shook on the days that we were filming those scenes because she was walking around the set in character, wouldn’t get out of character, and was doing this maniacal, amazing, creepy laugh, like, you know, while we were shooting, but also full-time when we were not shooting as well. So everyone was really living it with her. And that was so cool.
But it, you know, going into the second one, there was a real emphasis on trying to bring in quite a bit more lore even than the first game. And some of that was really inspired by how many more animatronics we were going to have, which of course we were taking from the second game—all the toy animatronics and all the withered animatronics. So it was, I think, a combination of making that effort but also figuring out how to incorporate all of these new characters into a story that is still Abby-and Mike-centric and Vanessa-and-William Afton-centric as well. So it was a real dance trying to weave all of those things together, but it felt very satisfying once we felt like we had gotten the balance right.
Definitely, thinking about specifically Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail) and her backstory, kind of being the entryway into some of the deep lore, in addition to her past relationship with the Marionette, it’s so cool how it really ties things together with Mike’s journey to finding Henry Emily (Skeet Ulrich). Love the spiritual reunion between horror husbands Skeet Ulrich and Matthew Lillard, by the way. How did you, Scott, really dig into that to find what was most important to show on screen versus tease for the future?
Tammi: Totally, I mean, it wasn’t really, I would say, ongoing development As we were getting closer to production, we had kind of been discussing whether or not Henry would be a character to introduce in the second movie or not. And where we landed, I think, felt like such a great, as you say, introduction. And we actually never even mentioned his name in the film. Obviously, everyone who knows, knows it. So it’s a way to, like, really start bringing them into the fold, but while still keeping some of his mystery and still keeping some of his backstory for a later installment, should we get to make one?
And that just felt like also, I think, such a great way to introduce the reunion, as you say, between Matt and Skeet. We never see them in a scene together. But between knowing their character backstories with FNAF and also their history and scream, it just felt like this very kind of kismet pairing, and certainly one that we got incredibly excited about while we were making the film, but also that we’ve now seen reflected in all of the audience reactions, both in the horror space and in the Five Nights fan base world, and of course all the overlap in between. So it’s been one of the most special things about the sequel, I think.
The animatronics getting a group of teens who should not be inside the Freddy Fazbear location but they find their way in anyways, so they get what they deserve, is my fave FNAF horror movie trope. Can you talk about how landing on this setup for the action scenes helped you really find your take on these characters and tap into the game’s horror? I just want to hear more about your vision as a filmmaker and how it’s allowed you to be more imaginative in building creative sequences with the Jim Henson-built puppets.
Tammi: I mean, what was so great about all the ghost hunters and that whole section of the film was that they’re walking in and seeing this space in its kind of decrepit, deteriorated state for the first time along with us. So we’ve seen it in its heyday in the cold open of the film, but this is the first time through them that we are experiencing it in basically its haunted state. And in terms of just like the tone and the incredible ambience of the games, I think that was one of the biggest things that we wanted to incorporate in the first movie.
And then this felt like such a great section to bring that back in. In the first movie, Mike’s looking around the pizzeria for the first time and catching a small glimpse of the animatronics buying the curtains for the first time. And this is kind of the equivalent for movie two and a different pizzeria location. So for me, it’s just one of my favorite sections of the film in terms of the textures and the quiet and just the knowing that something is lurking in the shadows, but not necessarily seeing it yet. We catch glimpses of it in this section and obviously see what destruction it has unleashed. But we don’t fully see any of the animatronic characters as much as we’re going to down the line, which then does become more of Abby’s perspective and really getting a full glimpse of them out in the world.
Oh my gosh. Yes, it’s a totally different thing when they’re out and about. That Wayne Knight and the Jurassic Park spitter dino homage at the school was incredible. My heart, I loved that so much!
Tammi: (laughs) That was another amazing reference that we kind of got to play with because Wayne is so iconic as a Jurassic Park [Easter egg]. And yeah, we’ve had a really, like, incredible time with this whole franchise. I mean, it’s so nostalgic in terms of the setting, and to begin with, but it’s also with our casting. We’ve had this amazing, I think, intention, but serendipity in terms of landing a great cast also brings back that nostalgia for us, too, in terms of the previous characters that they had played in movies in the ’90s or early 2000s, which our movie is set in. So that’s been amazing. And Wayne is so funny and so game for anything that he was just all in and super stoked to bring that character to life, and [he] did such an amazing job.