Horror icon Matthew Lillard is returning to the genre once again in the upcoming Five Nights at Freddy’s 2. In the first movie, it was revealed that his mild-mannered character was actually the mastermind behind the killer animatronics, William Afton.
Ahead of the upcoming sequel, Lillard teased to Entertainment Tonight a bit more about what fans can expect. Calling the franchise a “game-changer” for him at this stage of his career, he told the publication: “To have a franchise like that is very exciting.”
He continued: “‘I always come back’ is my last line of the movie, so I’m coming back, that’s good. Here’s the great news – I think the fans fell in love with what we did, I think Scott [Cawthon, the Five Nights at Freddy’s creator] is the shepherd of this incredible project and I think collectively the filmmakers listened to some of the criticism that they got and they’re growing as filmmakers. I think this film is going to be tonally a little different, I think we’re going to have a lot more.”
Pushed on what exactly he means by that, Lillard added: “I think it’s going to be an action-packed film, I think it’s going to be very exciting. Again, I think it’s fan-centric and I think they’re going to love it.”
Directed once again by Emma Tammi, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 will be released in December 2025. The movie was due to start filming in October, and will also see the return of Elizabeth Lail as Vanessa, Josh Hutcherson as Mike Schmidt, and Piper Rubio as Abby – as well as everyone’s favorite killer animatronics.
For more scares, here are all the upcoming horror movies you need to know about, as well as our pick of the best horror movies of all time.
