Josh Hutcherson knows a thing or two about heading up movies that turn into box office smashes, having co-starred alongside Jennifer Lawrence in the initial four Hunger Games films. He returned to that coveted spotlight with a few furry “friends” in tow thanks to Five Nights at Freddy’s, which wound up being the year’s most successful genre movie (if not the best horror of 2023). And it turns out the Katniss actress herself reached out to celebrate their respective successes.
While Hutcherson was still gearing up for his Blumhouse horror flick to kick off its promotional campaign in earnest, J-Law’s own eye-catching 2023 project hit theaters over the summer, and the hottie-dates-a-nottie comedy No Hard Feelings pulled in over $87 million worldwide. What’s more, as soon as it became available to stream with a Netflix subscription, No Hard Feelings launched into the Top 10, and has seemingly remained there ever since. (Presumably thanks in part to Lawrence going nude for a hilarious beach brawl.)
Speaking with Variety about the boffo success of Five Nights at Freddy’s, while also offering a mild Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 update, Josh Hutcherson revealed how Jennifer Lawrence reached out to share the love, saying:
Jen texted me when Freddy’s came out. She was like, ‘My movie’s #1 on Netflix, and your’s is #1 at the box office! Let’s go!’ I was like, ‘I love you!'
While we might not know exactly how often Lawrence and Hutcherson text and/or talk on the phone, the fact that he had this incident in his back pocket can only be a good sign. The actors starred in four giant movies together, with all the expected romantic drama on-screen, so one would hope that their chemistry bled over into real life at least a little.
Few things can shatter the magic of Hollywood quicker than news about actors who portray a beloved couple hating each other behind the scenes. So here’s hoping they still catch up in other ways as well. But even if they mainly just chat to hype up movies crushing at the box office or garnering millions of streaming hours on Netflix, that’s hardly a bad thing.
Speaking of streaming success, Five Nights at Freddy’s reportedly drew a record number of new customers signing up for Peacock subscriptions, which seemed to justify NBCUniversal’s questionable decision to release the highly anticipated movie both in theaters and on the streaming service at the same time.
Now, will Hutcherson be able to spin that text message into full-on convincing Jennifer Lawrence to join the cast of FNAF 2 if and when that production gets underway? I mean, probably not, and even if he did, studio execs would probably take minor issue with one of their stars adding other cast members. We can hope, though.
While going for broke with hope, check out all the upcoming horror movies to look forward to before Freddy Fazbear’s assumed return later in 2024.
