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Five Nights at Freddy’s 3 movie drops Scott Cawthon from script duties, replaces him with Annabelle writer
Cawthon, who created Five Nights at Freddy’s and had script credits for the first and second Blumhouse films, is stepping aside for Gary Dauberman to write the script
NewsbyGrant DeArmitt, Staff Writer
Published on Tue Jun 30 2026
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There seems to be no end in sight for Blumhouse’s Five Nights at Freddy’s movies. With not one, but two blockbuster youth-oriented horror flicks to date, the video-game-turned-turned-film-franchise shows no sign of slowing down; look no further for proof than the fact that there’s already a third entry on its way. Still, the fact that the Chuck E. Cheese-themed frighteners aren’t slowing down doesn’t mean they’re not changing – case in point, there’s been a major shake-up in how Blumhouse is bringing FNAF 3 into theaters.
That is, without a script by Scott Cawthon.
In case you don’t know Scott Cawthon is the creator of the original Five Nights at Freddy’s games, which before they became blockbusters at the box office, were giant hits on streaming platforms like Twitch. You can see, then, why Blumhouse would keep Cawthon in an integral role as they made the movies, giving him the opportunity to co-write the first film‘s script with Seth Cuddeback and Emma Tammi, and giving him solo script duties for Five Nights at Freddy’s 2. For the franchise’s junior entry, though, they’re switching tactics, though they’re keeping the script in the hands of someone with plenty of horror cred: Gary Dauberman.
As reported for by the folks at Dread Central, Dauberman is taking over the FNAF 3 script after achieving a long list of horror bonafides. Most notably, Dauberman has written scripts for the Annabelle trilogy, but his work has also been featured in films like IT, The Nun II, and for all you horror-game-to-horror-movie fans, the Until Dawn film from 2025.
Don’t worry, though. Scott Cawthon is still involved with this third movie as an executive producer. Now, whether that makes it more or less likely that this film will give us FNAF fans the answers to lore questions we so desperately seek is anybody’s guess.
Five Nights at Freddy’s and Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 are streaming now on Peacock.
In the immortal words of Danny Elfman, “Life’s no fun without a good scare.” Join Popverse’s freaky forays into frightful filmology with:
- The best horror movies of all time, according to horror aficionado Greg Silber
- The most underrated horror movies from the past couple years
- All the new and upcoming horror movies for 2025 and beyond
And much gore. Er, more. Much more.
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Grant DeArmitt: Grant DeArmitt (he/him) likes horror, comics, and the unholy union of the two. In the past, and despite their better judgment, he has written for Nightmare on Film Street and Newsarama. He lives in Brooklyn with his partner, Kingsley, and corgi, Legs.
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