Blumhouse's Five Nights at Freddy's film has finally found a director to helm the animatronic horror. After making her feature debut in 2018 with the horror western The Wind, Emma Tammi will direct the long-in-the-works adaptation. The Hollywood Reporter revealed the new director alongside the news that principal photography for the film begins in February 2023.

Created by Scott Cawthon, Five Nights at Freddy's (FNAF) exploded on the internet with its first game back in 2014, becoming an instant icon in horror gaming thanks to a unique premise and plenty of coverage from YouTube content creators. Players don the suit of a night security guard at Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria, a restaurant/entertainment venue similar to Chuck E. Cheese complete with animatronic performers. They're tasked with watching over the location from midnight until 6 a.m. all while trying to fend off the horrifying animatronic animals Freddy Fazbear, Bonnie the Bunny, Chica the Chicken, and Foxy the Pirate Fox. Now with eight mainline installments, multiple spinoffs, and books, the series has built on that foundation, becoming a global powerhouse, adding more lore, and experimenting with the formula.

As early as 2015, a film in the FNAF universe was originally mulled over, but it has faced numerous issues since, changing hands from Warner Bros. Pictures to Blumhouse and going through multiple directors and writers. Under Blum, the film finally has a script with Cawthon's blessing with Tammi joining the game's creator as a writer alongside Seth Cuddeback. Work has also begun on bringing the iconic characters to life as Blumhouse has teamed with Jim Henson's Creature Shop for their animatronic expertise.

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Image via Scott Cawthon

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Blum has a lot of faith in Tammi who earned high marks for The Wind when it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival’s Midnight Madness program in 2018. In the years since her debut, she directed ten episodes of the sci-fi podcast The Left-Right Game as well as a pair of episodes for the horror anthology Into the Dark. FNAF will be her first writing credit, however, and with the film being part of a beloved franchise for so many coming from the biggest horror studio out there, this will be her biggest challenge as a filmmaker yet.

"Five Nights at Freddy’s is more consistently asked about than any other film I’ve ever worked on, and I’m thrilled to confirm it’s finally happening!” Blum said in a statement about the production. “With Emma Tammi at the helm, we’re committed to making Scott’s vision of the movie come to life. Rest assured, it will be and is worth the wait." Blum teamed with Cawthon to produce the film while Blumhouse will produce in association with Striker Entertainment. Russel Binder will executive produce.

FNAF begins filming in February 2023. Check out an interview Collider conducted with Blum last year when he previously discussed the film as well as the Ryan Gosling-led Wolfman.