I didn’t expect “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2” to feature a shot of beloved character actor Wayne Knight being killed by a robot monster likely possessed by the spirit and rotted corpse of a small child in the first look teaser trailer out of CinemaCon 2025, but I’m certainly not mad about it! The eagerly awaited follow-up to the biggest box office success in the history of Blumhouse, “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2,” has gotten the animatronic pizza party place band back together as it may, with director Emma Tammi back in the director’s chair, Josh Hutcherson, Elizabeth Lail, Piper Rubio, and Matthew Lillard all reprising their roles from the first film, and a screenplay from “Five Nights at Freddy’s” video game creator, Scott Cawthon.
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When we last saw our homicidal besties, the machines had killed the evil William Afton (Lillard) by forcing him into the springlock yellow Bonnie the Bunny suit to kill him, transforming him into the terrifying Springtrap. Our humans made it out of the Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza place alive with only a wee bit of emotional scarring, especially given the affinity Abby (Rubio) now has for the maniacal machines. In the coming days (let’s be honest, hours), the die-hard FNaF fandom will gladly go frame by frame to dissect the hidden secrets within because there’s already plenty to examine in just the less-than-a-minute footage of the fast-tracked horror sequel.
Are you ready for Freddy? I know I am!
Mckenna Grace, Mangle, and Toy Freddy Fazbear, oh my!
“Five Nights at Freddy’s 2” is taking the show on the road, no longer keeping the story locked to one of the Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza Place locations. The opening of the trailer does show poor Wayne Knight being attacked inside of a building, and based on the decorative bulletin boards and long hallways, it looks a bit like a school. It’s unclear if this is Abby’s school or perhaps a flashback scene, but either way, someone is gonna die in that school.
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The footage then cuts to a carnival with Freddy Fazbear-themed games, prizes, costumes, and animatronics walking around the areas. Abby leaves a note on the door that says “gone to fix my friends,” which her older brother Mike Schmidt (Hutcherson) finds and knows immediately means she’s gone to hang out with those scary ass animatronics that almost killed them in the last movie. Officer Vanessa Shelly (Elizabeth Lail), who we learned was the daughter of William Afton in the last movie, shows up alive (yay!) to warn Mike that the creatures are still out there.
“Where?” he asks. “Everywhere,” she replies.
If you watch closely, you’ll catch scenes showing people being tormented in their home, Springtrap grabbing a weapon, the Balloon Boy as a full-on animatronic and not just a jump-scare toy like in the first film, the terrifying Foxy animatronic known as Mangle, the cute albeit creepy Toy Freddy, and … Mckenna Grace?! For those unaware, prolific young performer Mckenna Grace (“Ghostbusters: Afterlife,” “The Haunting of Hill House,” “Scream 7”) is a massive fan of the “Five Nights at Freddy’s” video game series, and has been very outspoken about her desire to play a part in the film franchise. Well, like MatPat and The Living Tombstone that came before her, being a superfan has paid off.
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“Five Nights at Freddy’s 2” will have a theatrical-only release on December 5, 2025.