- For animated film, see Five Nights at Freddy's (1987 film)
Poster
Five Nights at Freddy's It is a 2020 live action movie directed by John Favreau and Bill Condon and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.
It is the film adaptation of the 1987 classic of the same name directed by Don Bluth and produced by John Musker, Ron Clements and Burney Mattison.
It starred John Goodman, Billy Eichner, Emma Thompson, Robert Downey Jr., Chris Pratt and Benedict Cumberbatch and premiered for the Disney + platform, as well as select movie theaters .
Contents
Synopsis:
The film tells the story of four animals from a pizzeria called Freddy (John Goodman) a bear, Bonnie (Billy Eichner) a rabbit, Chica (Emma Thompson a chicken and Foxy (Robert Downey Jr.) a pirate fox, which after his pizzeria will close its doors, they meet Mike (Chris Pratt) who comes to work as a guard for five nights and the animatronics become friends with them.
Plot:
Freddy Fazbear's Pizza started off as a well-renowned family entertainment pizzeria a few years prior, but is planned to be shut down by the end of the year. Reasons for being shut down are because of the low-budget cost of the pizzeria and the shady past behind previous restaurants from the same company that of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. Fazbear Entertainment, the company, also failed to sell the restaurant, as other companies did not want to be associated with the shady company.
The animatronics that reside in the pizzeria are programmed with highly advanced artificial intelligence, being capable of thinking for themselves and expressing human emotions. Freddy Fazbear (John Goodman), an animatronic bear and main mascot of the pizzeria, grieves over nobody visiting the pizzeria. He has attempted to keep the pizzeria open, but failed. Even negotiating with the employees is pointless. Freddy's friends, Bonnie the Bunny (Billy Eichner) and Chica the Chicken (Emma Thompson) encourage Freddy to look after what is left of the pizzeria.
For the time being, they all take care of each other and discuss some incidents and events that has happened from previous years ago. Freddy mentions a mass murderer whom the animatronics nicknamed the "Purple Man" and is responsible for the "Missing Children Incident".
Foxy (Robert Downey Jr), a discontinued animatronic fox, has a separate show stage and lives in solitude. He is rather grumpy and bitter, however, Greyli the wolf (Seth Rogen) is the only one who can seem to calm his nerves . Freddy and Bonnie attempt to get Foxy to leave his stage and socialize with the others, but Foxy refuses to leave. After several attempts, Freddy and Bonnie get the help og Greyli in an attempt to try and leave. Eventually, Greyli talks to Foxy about his problems. Foxy only explains very little, as he is still grumpy. However, Foxy redeems himself and apologizes to his Freddy, Bonnie and Chica for the way he's been acting and they forgive him.
Several weeks later (leading up to November), 22-year-old Mike Schmidt (Chris Pratt) works as the night watch security guard for Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria. The animatronics mistake the guard for being a criminals, and decide to pull wacky antics to try and make him leave. This goes on for about 2 nights, before realizing he's just a man doing his job. They explained they haven't had anyone at night with them in a long time, so they freaked out. Mike forgives them, and become friends.
Meanwhile and unbeknownst to Mike and the animatronics during the week, an animatronic bear dubbed "Goldie" (Benedict Cumberbatch), with fur shining bright yellow/gold, spies on Mike while the animatronics become friends with him. Goldie mistakes Mike for the previously mentioned "Purple Man". Goldie seeks Foxy for assistance to murder Mike and leave behind no traces. Foxy backs out from helping Goldie, which infuriates him, believing Foxy is siding with the "Purple Man". Before Foxy could tell him he is mistaking, Goldie tries dismantle Foxy, but Foxy escapes with the help of Greyli. Foxy tells mike, and mike heads to freddy on what happened in the restaurant. Freddy explains in a song what happened with the murders and previous location. Afterward, they make a plan to stop goldie.
Upon arriving at the pizzeria for his last work day of the week, Goldie arrives to finish his commitment. Foxy attempts to convince Goldie not to cause harm, but ends up picking a fight as he taunts Foxy (who ends up getting knocked unconscious). Freddy tries to calm Goldie down, then an angered Goldie makes Freddy experience hallucinations from his past. Freddy is strong enough to surpass the hallucinations and forcefully holds Goldie to the ground, pleading for Goldie to come to his senses.
Goldie realizes his mistakes, eventually leading to self-loathing. Freddy privately speaks with Goldie. Goldie confesses to Freddy that he wants revenge on the "Purple Man" after witnessing him doing horrifying things. Freddy forgives Goldie of his hostile actions, but also tells Goldie to let go of the past as it will only hurt him more than he already is. Freddy also offers Goldie to perform on stage with him and his friends, but Goldie doesn't accept the offer. Instead, Goldie resides to darkness as there are things he needs to think about. Freddy leaves Goldie to his own devices. Goldie secretly tells himself that the purple uniform Mike wears made him experiencing horrible flashbacks.
Before the end of the week, Mike is fired from his job for "tampering with the animatronics". As Mike prepares to leave and eventually search for another job, the animatronics bid him farewell and swear to always remember him. Mike does the same.
One morning (even with no audience around), Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, Foxy, and Greyli sing together on their show stage like they use to in the daytime.
Cast:
- Chris Pratt as Mike Shcmit: a young man working as the night-watch security guard at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. He becomes friends with Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy.
Voice Cast:
- John Goodman as Freddy Fazbear: a brown bear who is the leader of his own musical band at Fazbear's Pizzeria. He is the best friend of Chica, Bonnie, Foxy and later of Mike Smith. Goodman returns to play his role after the 1987 film.
- Billy Eichner as Bonnie the Bunny: a purple rabbit and the main guitarist of the pizzeria. He tends to be very hysterical and scary, turning him into a comic relief character. He is friends with Freddy, Chica, Foxy and Mike.
- Emma Thompson as Chica the Chicken: a motherly, worrisome animatronic chicken. She is a master chef/baker and one of the mascots of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza.
- Robert Downey Jr. as Foxy the Pirate Fox: a bitter, grumpy, and annoyed animatronic fox. He is a pirate and wishes to be left alone. He is also a discontinued character in the pizzeria, leading him to be a former mascot.
- Benedict Cumberbatch as Goldie: a ghastly, but traumatized animatronic bear. His fur is the color of gold/yellow. He tends to look back into his past, which hurts him mentally, causing him to become hostile. This version of Golden Freddy is much more sinister and scary than its animated version.
Other Cast:
- Seth Rogen as Greyli the Wolf: A wolf who also lives in the pizzeria with the animatronics. He is Foxy's best close friend and later also becomes Mike's friend. This character makes his first debut, since he never appeared in the 1987 animated film.
- John Cena as Eddie Murray: He is a businessman who is a friend of Mike.
- Nika Futterman as Martha: She is a baker who lives in a bakery.
- David Tennant as The Purple Guy: He is the murderer responsible for the various crimes he has committed. This appears in a flashback that has Goldie in his song, which in the animated version never happened.
Production:
Development
The production took place in 2018, announcing that a movie made of flesh and blood and with real actors was going to see it. Then the theatrical trailer was released in 2019, announcing the official premiere of the film in 2020, then that same year, the director uploaded the full cast of the film on Twitter and finally, the film was officially released in theaters in the United States and for the Disney + platform.
The film was produced by Brigham Taylor and Todd Lieberman, with music composed by Hans Zimmer and being distributed Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.
Filming and Visual Effects
Principal photography took place entirely on sound stages at L.A. Center Studios in downtown Los Angeles. The animal characters were created entirely in computer animation, with the assistance of footage of real human movement, the actors recording their lines, and performance capture for reference. The production team underwent a thorough process to realistically convey the animal mascots speaking, and showing emotion, while still making them perceptually believable to the audience.
Sound
Director Jon Favreau and composer John Debney sought to recreate the Fantasound experience Walt Disney, himself, had in mind. When mixing the soundtrack in Dolby Atmos, as Favreau said, "we isolated instruments when we could. And in the sound mix, we created a Fantasound mix. If you see the film in Atmos, you will feel that there are instruments that move around the theater". A mention for Fantasound appears in the film's closing credits.
Release:
The film was officially released in select theaters in the United States on October 7, 2020 and for Disney+ platform.
Reception:
The movie received an ok score of 80% on Rotten Tomato's, with the critic consensus saying "Five Nights at Freddy's 2020 is very interesting, and definitely worth a watch, however, it wasn't as special like the beloved original classic". Never the less, it was a hit with the fans of the series, with most of them coming out happy. A lot of people did have a problem with some songs being dumbed down, and its overall creepy look to it. Especially the live action animal mascots, with one critic saying "These things are terrifying, in a movie that's supposed to take that fear and turn it into something magical. Here it just doesn't work". However, the new designs have gained a small following.
It was a smash at the box office, with it almost quadrupling the budget.
Music:
- "Les Toreadors" - Opening/Soundtrack Overture
- "Welcome to Freddy's"
- "Foxy's Despair"
- "Get that Nightgaurd"
- "The Purple Man"
- "A Yellow Bear"
- "A Time Long Forgot"
- "Pizza Time Theater (Finale)"
- "Goodbye" - End Credits Song
Home Media:
Difference with the animated film and 2020 film.
- The film is set in 2005 and not in 1992 as it happened in the animated version of 1987.
- Greyli the wolf, is present in this version of the film, although in the original never appeared.
- The purple man appears in a flashback that Goldie mentions during the song "A Yellow Bear", in the animated version it does not happen.
- The song of "The Purple Man" is remastered and with new lyrics and is much shorter than the animated version of the movie.
- 2 new songs are added. The first being "A Time Long Forgot" where we see Freddy explain why the place is shutting down, and "Get that Nightguard" when the animatronics mistake the guard for a criminal.
- It is never revealed that Chica and Bonnie are a couple in the version of this movie, unlike the animated one.
- It is revealed that Mike had a mother, a father and several younger siblings than he does in a flashback he has when he talks to Freddy and Company, which was never revealed in the animated version.
Trivia:
- It is with The Jungle Book and the Lion King, the third film directed by John Favreau. It is also the second film in which he would have the direction of Bill Condon, after Beauty and the Beast.
- At first, Will Smith, Adam Sandler and Steve Carrell were considered for the role of Bonnie in the film, but Billy Eichner was finally chosen as the new Bonnie.
- The Phone Guy is still absent in both the 2020 version and the animated 1987 version.
- In the film trailer, a part of the song Friend Like Me from 2019 film Aladdin, appears when Bonnie puts on the radio, but in the final movie, this song does not appear and is replaced by other.
