Dead by Daylight introduced Five Nights at Freddy’s Springtrap to its universe as a Killer in June 2025, exciting the fandom of both gaming franchises. William Afton’s debut in DBD presents ample storytelling opportunities for the survival horror video game, which is being adapted into a film. While the extent to which the animatronic will feature in future DBD projects is uncertain, it has revived interest in the Dead by Daylight movie under development.
The Behaviour Interactive multiplayer game sparked conversations about a film adaptation following its enormous popularity. Since its debut in 2016, Dead by Daylight has pulled over 60 million players worldwide, spawning spin-off games and other media products. From a board game to a comic series, the DBD universe continues to expand, but the movie adaptation is poised to be the most significant expansion. What’s the status of the project?
The Dead by Daylight Film Adaptation Was First Announced In Early 2023
Plans for Dead by Daylight’s feature film adaptation came to light in March 2023. When the news broke, horror fans were thrilled to learn that Behaviour Interactive was partnering with two cult horror icons — James Wan and Jason Blum — to spearhead the project. Confirming the partnership, Stephen Mulrooney said, “We couldn’t be more thrilled to work with Jason Blum and James Wan, two giants of the horror film industry, to further expand the Dead by Daylight universe.
The Chief Product Officer and CTO at Behaviour Interactive emphasized that Blum and Wan’s production companies are the right partners for the project. “Atomic Monster and Blumhouse are the ideal partners to craft Dead by Daylight’s killer entrance onto the big screen,” he said. Blum and Wan both confirmed their involvement in the project when it was announced, but there’s barely any update from the two regarding the movie’s status since 2024.
What’s The Status of The Dead By Daylight Movie?
The world of The Entity is still coming to the big screen. While all the production companies involved have been quiet about the DBD movie, the project hasn’t been abandoned. In early 2024, one of the executive producers involved in the upcoming film told Collider that the movie is still in the pipeline. Responding to questions about ongoing projects at Blumhouse, Ryan Turek divulged that he’s actively collaborating with other producers to create a movie that will resonate with fans of the video game.
“I look at that as the celebration of horror that the video game itself is,” he told the publication. “What we’ve learned from Five Nights at Freddy’s is, obviously, steer towards the fans and make a video game adaptation for the fans,” added the Blumhouse VP of Development. “…We’re creatively mulling around what the way into it is,” he said, affirming that the film is still in development. Turek was an executive producer in the 2023 movie adaptation of Scott Cawthon’s video game series, Five Nights at Freddy’s.
The Dead by Daylight Movie Could Take 10 Years
There’s no release date in sight for the anticipated film. Fans will have to wait a lot longer, as the project is still in early development. The creative team is still trying to come up with a suitable script for the film. Blum divulged this at New York Comic-Con in October 2024 while answering a question about the film’s status.
“[We’re] working on the script… we don’t put movies in the calendar until we have the right script,” he said. “I hope we get a script we love,” added the founder and CEO of Blumhouse Productions. The Insidious director hinted that making the movie could take as long as it took to make Five Nights at Freddy’s. He stressed the importance of taking all the time needed to create a meaningful movie. “It took 10 years to make Five Nights at Freddy’s, and I think one of the reasons the movie worked is because we spent 10 years trying to get it right.”
Reiterating that the creative team is brainstorming for the script, he noted that “it could be five years, it could be 12 months. You just don’t know. You can’t make the movie until the script is right, and you don’t know how long that’ll take.” Behaviour Interactive has remained mum about the project since the initial announcement. Check out how Sirens’ ending is the boldest villain twist you never saw coming.
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