Matthew Lillard Teases Five Nights At Freddy’s 3 And “Luke Skywalker vs. Darth Vader” Showdown With Josh Hutcherson

This article contains spoilers for Five Nights At Freddy’s 2.

Two years after the first film broke Blumhouse’s box office record, Five Nights At Freddy’s 2 has hit theaters. Directed by Emma Tammi and written by franchise creator Scott Cawthon, the film stars Josh Hutcherson, Elizabeth Lail, Piper Rubio, Megan Fox, Matthew “MatPat” Patrick, Kellen Goff, Freddy Carter, Skeet Ulrich, and Matthew Lillard, among others.

Based loosely on the Five Nights At Freddy’s game franchise, it follows Mike Schmidt (Hutcherson), a former security guard for Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, as he tries to protect his younger sister Abby (Rubio) from the vengeful spirits left in the wake of now-deceased serial killer William Afton (Lillard). Afton previously used the pizza place as a front for murdering children, with his victims going on to possess animatronics. While it somewhat pulls from the game of the same name, Five Nights At Freddy’s 2 largely takes the story in its own new direction, including teasing further installments.

Recently, Lillard addressed plans for sequels down the line, stating: “Our hope is that we get to do three films.” According to the Scream star, making a trilogy “has always been the plan,” but “everything is dependent on how the movie does in theaters.”

As a result of Cawthon and Tammi making Five Nights At Freddy’s 2 with the intention of setting up a sequel, Lillard’s Afton is used very sparingly, only appearing in flashbacks and dream sequences. “Like Star Wars or Harry Potter, Voldemort or Darth Vader, they both sort of show up later in the series,” said Lillard. “So, unfortunately for me, I don’t have a huge part in it. I do think the stuff I get to do is fantastic. I love it.“

Reviews for Five Nights At Freddy’s 2 were dismal, somewhat casting doubt on sequel plans. That is, the critical response seemed like it could dent the film’s profits until it topped this weekend’s box office with a projected $56.5 million haul. This does place it below the first film’s opening of $80 million, but as it had a budget of around $35 million, Five Nights At Freddy’s 2 has a high probability of breaking even. Consequently, Five Nights At Freddy’s 3 will likely be on its way to the big screen soon.

To that point, the film’s post-credits scene set up a return for Afton in a zombified animatronic form known as Springtrap in the games. As such, Lillard’s suggestion that Afton will be a bigger part of Five Nights At Freddy’s 3 carries more weight. Additionally, Five Nights At Freddy’s 2 left a few dangling threads in the form of Afton’s children. Vanessa (Lail) was previously allied with Mike but ends the film presumably possessed by one of her father’s victims. Meanwhile, her brother Michael (Carter), not to be confused with Mike, is unaccounted for and still wishes to carry on his father’s schemes.

Regardless of where these storylines go, Lillard teased that the theoretical sequel would see more of his killer. “We’ll get that final Harry Potter vs. Voldemort or Luke Skywalker vs. Darth Vader,” Lillard stated. “That’s our hope. Within that, we’ll get to do that and explore more.” However, he made it very clear that these plans still hinge on whether the film turns a profit.

“For now, we’ve got a long way to go; we’ve got to get people into the theaters,” the actor concluded. Five Nights At Freddy’s 2 is now playing in theaters.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2

3/10

Release Date

December 5, 2025

Director

Emma Tammi

Writers

Scott Cawthon

Producers

Jason Blum, Scott Cawthon

• Matthew Lillard

  William Afton