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The Five Nights at Freddy's fandom is one of the biggest communities on the internet, and an injury to one is an injury to all, as FNAF creator Scott Cawthon discovered two years ago. 

Cawthon took to Reddit to reveal to Five Nights at Freddy's fans that the day he learned that the 2023 movie was leaked ahead of its Halloween release was a stressful one, but ultimately, reignited his hope in humanity. 

"I got emails about [the FNAF movie leak] early in the day but was at an amusement park with my kids and was unable to see what had happened. I tried to ignore it and enjoy my day, but I was really, really, disheartened. I know that Blumhouse and Universal (and me too) have all worked very hard to make something really exciting to share. So the thought of a first-look being spoiled was frustrating, and I was really dreading coming home to see what all had happened while I was away," Cawthon's post began.

"To my surprise though, I got home and found a lot of YouTube channels refusing to do videos on it, Twitter channels refusing to repost it, countless members refusing to watch it, and moderators taking a stand against allowing discussion on it. It's really difficult, if not impossible, to prevent people from trying to spoil things for everyone else, but it was really encouraging to see the fanbase pull together and push back against it. For those of you who resisted watching it, I think you'll be much happier when you're able to see a finished product that is edited and polished, with VFX and proper sounds.

So, to the fanbase, and to all of the Twitter accounts, YouTube accounts, moderators, and other people who pushed back against this; thank you. I started my day at Humanity -1, but ended the day at Humanity +100."

If you were looking for a reason to believe in the ability of humanity to come together and do a decent thing, then look no further than the FNAF fandom. 

The Five Nights at Freddy's phenomenon is lasting longer than five nights. Get up to speed, with how to play all the FNAF games in order, why Five Nights at Freddy's is the ideal starter kit for a kid wanting to get into horror, details on the characters and lore, getting to know the FNAF movie animatronics, how the movie fits in the canon of the games, and how Chuck E. Cheese is responding.

Can't get enough? We have recommendations for five movies to watch after Five Nights at Freddy's.