To the surprise of no one, Matthew Lillard (of Scream and Scooby Doo fame) brought "a whole iconic element and flavor" to the Five Nights at Freddy's movie, director Emma Tammi says.

The renowned actor is familiar with the horror genre, and it sounds like everyone was as excited to have him on board as he was to land a major role in the long-awaited adaptation. During NYCC 2023's Blumhouse panel (which you can watch in full here), Tammi hyped his performance up, calling it "iconic" and saying he also felt the project was "special". You can watch the clip below:

Of course, everyone expects a movie's director to say good things about their actors, but Lillard is a fantastic fit for the Five Nights at Freddy's adaptation, regardless of the final outcome of the movie as a whole. He's consistently been one of the most (if not the most) memorable elements in every horror flick he's appeared in, and clearly knows how to navigate the genre and inject his own personality into every role he touches. The fact he's playing William Afton, a key character in the FNAF video game series, in the anticipated movie has only made fans even more excited to see the horror feature.

Five Nights at Freddy's aims to be the biggest movie in cinemas come Halloween next week, as it'll open this Friday, October 27, and surely ride a wave of online buzz and real-life chatter into the spookiest night of the year. Those who wish to watch it at home will be able to do so on the Peacock streaming platform starting Thursday, October 26, a day earlier than initially announced.

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While you wait for Five Nights at Freddy's, there are plenty of exciting movies coming soon to cinemas as well as streaming, and you can find them all in our up-to-date guide.