‘Five Nights at Freddy’s 2’ Director Emma Tammi Explains How Abby Anchors the Sequel
Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is still playing in theaters, but if you’d rather make your own pizza and be obsessed with lifelike animatronics threatening the safety of your couch, you’re in luck. The hit sequel arrives on digital platforms today, ahead of its physical release on 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD on February 17.
It comes with a host of extras, including cast interviews, a behind-the-scenes featurette focusing on the puppeteers and stunt performers, and a look at how the terrifying new villain, the Marionette, is being built to be terrifying.
Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 director Emma Tammi—returning from the first blockbuster film—recently told io9 about the decision to center the character of Abby, played by young actress Piper Rubio. The story picks up a year after the first part and sees Abby and her brother, Mike (Josh Hutcherson), digging deeper into the secrets of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza—with Abby especially forming a bond with its ruthless residents.
“He was, in many ways, the key to seeing this world in many ways, not just complete fear and chaos, which is a big part and a lot of fun,” Tammi explained. “But the fact that Abby has this deep connection with the ghost kids inside the animatronics in one movie and [carries] that love and respect for them became the second film—it just created all these other levels in the way audiences experienced animatronics. Unless they see them that way, I think this film will lose its surprise.”
Also important, as Tammi added: “At the same time, it won’t be as scary because one of the great things about animatronic characters is that they can turn around a little bit, and you don’t know when they’re going to do it. So I think the uncertainty really helps with the scary aspect of it. And of course, it’s very important that her relationship with Mike is a result. The way our actor, Piper Rubio, and Josh Hutcherson connected on screen and off screen was so powerful. So that just came out. it felt like the heart of the film and the relationship we were rooting for from the beginning, and that was important to both films.”
Rubio also showed his chops in the scenes where Abby is held by the Marionette.
“He just lived in that version of himself in a completely devoted and terrifying way,” Tammi said. “We just moved on the days we were filming those scenes because he was standing still, not wanting to get out of his position. [and] I did this crazy, amazing, scary laugh while we were filming, but also the whole time [while] we were not shooting either. So everyone really lived with him. And that was pretty cool. “
You can rent or buy Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 on digital platforms starting today; Universal Pictures Home Entertainment will also drop the physical release on 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD February 17.
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