To say there’s excitement bubbling up around the live-action Five Nights at Freddy’s film would be an understatement. With the franchise only continuing to grow in popularity since its inception in 2014, the movie marks a monumental milestone for FNaF’s presence in the broader pop culture space, a decade in the making.
As you may already be aware, Five Nights at Freddy’s is a horror franchise with a perpetual air of mystery around its characters and universe. It all started with a creepy Chuck E. Cheese-esque pizzeria, haunted by animatronics that entertain kids by day, and have more sinister intentions by night.
With this in mind, many FNaF fans would have presumed that if and when a feature film came to light, it would be rated R – given its grim subject matter. However, it ended up landing a PG-13 rating instead, which may have left some folks dismayed, or at the very least wondering if a gorier cut will ever grace our screens.
Does a R-rated cut of Five Nights at Freddy’s exist?
The idea of a R-rated cut of Five Nights at Freddy’s isn’t all that far-fetched, and the feature’s director Emma Tammi knows that, acknowledging it in an interview promoting the film with Forbes. Unfortunately, she goes on to confirm that said cut won’t be coming to fruition any time soon – if at all:
“I would say not to expect an R-rated version on this one. We’re really happy with how the PG-13 tone landed; it felt like the right fit for this particular film. We’re sticking by it.”
Tammi preceded the comment by assuring there’s at the very least insinuations of the dark and violent elements some fans had in mind, which were executed to still be able to fit the PG-13 bill. However, it seems that we’ll forever be expected to fill in the grittier parts of the film with our own minds.
You can catch Five Nights at Freddy’s on Peacock, and for a limited time in theaters, as of Oct. 27, 2023.