Five Nights at Freddy's Creator Scott Cawthon Snuck Into Screenings Wearing a Disguise

A lot of people all over the world have been waiting to see Five Nights at Freddy's hit the big screen for a very long time, but perhaps no one has felt that waiting more acutely than Scott Cawthon. The creator of the original game, released almost a decade ago, Cawthon has been involved throughout the Five Nights at Freddy's movie process, and served as both producer and co-writer on the final film. That means he knows exactly how long the wait has been, and exactly what it means that the movie is finally out in the world.

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So when opening weekend finally arrived on Oct. 27, Cawthon didn't sit back at home and read the news. No, he decided to go out and see for himself how Five Nights was being received by the fans. In a Reddit post late last week, Cawthon revealed that he'd gone "incognito" (sporting glasses and a beard) to several screenings of the film over the course of the opening weekend, beginning with matinees on Thursday and continuing throughout the next couple of days. Each time he encountered die-hard fans of the film in some way, which made each screening memorable. 

For example, at the Thursday opening show, the very first of the film's run, Cawthon noted a young couple who came in to see the film. 

"But just before the movie started a teenage boyfriend and girlfriend walked in; the girlfriend was dressed as Toy Chica, and they sat right next to me," Cawthon recalled. "She was obviously a super-fan (him not so much), and I heard her say as she walked in, 'What if Scott Cawthon was in here?' A few seconds later after they sat down, I heard her whisper, 'That kind of looks like Scott Cawthon.', gesturing to me. He glanced over at me then whispered back to her, 'Dear, he's old.' To that I say- Two things can be true at the same time."

You can read the whole post over at Reddit for more opening weekend stories, including a kid who called Cawthon "Dad," a group of super-fans all in costume, and much more. Over the course of its opening weekend, Five Nights at Freddy's earned more than $70 million at the box office, making it the best opening ever for a Blumhouse release, and making the whole experience very much worth the wait for Cawthon.

"Anyway, thanks everyone for making opening weekend such a big success," he wrote. "It was beyond my wildest dreams. I do read the comments and critiques, so while I'm glad most people had a great time at the movies, I'm definitely paying attention, and I wanted you all to know that."

Five Nights at Freddy's is in theaters now. Get tickets at Fandango, or stream the film on Peacock.