Halloween Horror Nights 32 (UOR) - Speculation & Rumors

[DonnieBoy]

Speaking of the FNaF leak, just watched that trailer and I'm personally not excited for that to be a house. I see how they can build a house around it but that recent video doesnt get me excited for an IP spot to be taken by FNaF.

Hoping that it could come next year. It definitely has potential to be a headliner easy

 

[Crypt Keeper]

Speaking of the FNaF leak, just watched that trailer and I'm personally not excited for that to be a house. I see how they can build a house around it but that recent video doesnt get me excited for an IP spot to be taken by FNaF.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

FNaF leak? Huh?

 

[HHN Maddux]

FNaF leak? Huh?

The trailer for the movie got leaked a few weeks ago. Not sure why we're talking bout it tho.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

The trailer for the movie got leaked a few weeks ago. Not sure why we're talking bout it tho.

OH ok, thought they meant HHN leak. Got you.

 

[Crypt Keeper]

FNaF leak? Huh?

A 3-minute trailer for the FNAF movie leaked on May 6.

 

[queenmetroid]

I was using Five Night's at Freddy's as an example of an IP rightsholder losing control of their property via a leak to support my larger point of why someone may choose to pull an IP late in the process (as has been seen in the past). Much like films, lots of contracts have morality clauses or rough equivalents which allow a studio/rightsholder to withdraw almost at any time for any reason if they feel the talent/licensee is damaging the reputation of their brand or property. Lots of contracts also include very strict performance clauses which create financial penalties for both specific actions or inactions/failure to perform.

Scott Cawthon directly addressed the trailer leak on Reddit and it's a decent summary of how someone may feel about a leak, and in FNAF's case, the trailer was unfinished and that could give a negative impression of the movie.



While he's an individual with much more direct control over his IP, it's certainly worthwhile to look at his situation and get an idea of why someone might decide that brand protection outweighs any licensing fee (which they may even keep anyway). Regardless of how small this corner of the internet seems, things here do get traction in other places and if it shows up on a bigger site, that could be all it takes for a rightsholder to decide that the Universal is doing a bad job and take punitive action.

(I'm not trying to go terribly off topic; just providing some insight on the past few pages.)

 

[HHN Maddux]

Well, some answers from Legacy on the Discord:

"Q": May 16th 9:00am EST mark my words
A: They can’t announce that early for a shared house

Q (regarding TLoU): It’s the IP that is basically set in stone
A: I’m of the mindset they’re all set in stone at this point, unless a production company tries to do an RKO out of nowhere.

Q: So everything is basically locked in at this point
A: I believe so.

Q: So Monsters actually might not be the one announced first?
A: If what I’m hearing is accurate…

Well, unless I'm misinterpreting what he said, what Legacy heard was wrong, or a delay happens, we should hopefully be getting a shared announcement tomorrow!

 

[GrimmFan]

Well, some answers from Legacy on the Discord:

"Q": May 16th 9:00am EST mark my words
A: They can’t announce that early for a shared house

That was me who asked this, I meant to say PST. Best mistake of my life

 

[BoSoxFan1022]

That was me who asked this, I meant to say PST. Best mistake of my life

Wait, so does this mean he was saying no to that date lol?

 

[fryoj]

I could write a book on this. I don't work in legal, but we'll call it legal adjacent and I have a fair amount of insight here, especially because I've worked on dozens of very secret projects with high profile names and reviewed hundreds of legal contracts.

Contracts are typically years in the making. Some are easy, and some are hard, but they require a lot of pleasantries, back and forth, and negotiating. Even a tiny change to contract language requires all parties to review them, and it's not just lawyers. It could be dozens of parties on both sides having to review a change. That means a few sentences can take weeks while it gets through email or Adobe Sign or whatever, and you have to repeat this *every time you make a change*. Oftentimes, no one intends for a contract to take forever, but you simply find yourself there, and work proceeds in the background on good faith while the lawyers hammer it out because you can't always wait for the lawyers to choose "must" to "shall". Sometimes, this doesn't work out very well if people make assumptions, like Universal Hollywood producing merch before the ink was dry, so that's why having a good relationship with your rightsholder is so critical. People always talk about how being connected is so important, and this especially matters in contracts because the rightsholder is trusting someone else with their property.

That really goes back to your comment about rightsholders being drama queens. They typically aren't. Imagine for a second that you manage an IP. That IP might be something important and valuable. It might be central to your revenue stream. Maybe you built it from the ground up. You want the tone to be authentic. You want the messaging to be right. You want the timing to be right. You want the news cycle to be right. Maybe the property hasn't been relevant in a long time and this is a chance to make it popular again. And then the third party leaks your surprise all over the news in an unfinished state (like the FNAF trailer). Or they build a giant Mindflayer out of paper towels. You're devastated. Trust is broken. You may suffer mockery or revenue impact. Why would you trust that company again? You yank the contract to send a message because leaks remove your ability to control things. It's like reading a synopsis of a TV show or movie before it comes out. Without context, you can reduce Batman to "a vigilante in a bat costume beats up criminals" and that doesn't account for the tone, music, or cinematography, and maybe a few people (unfairly) decide that's not their cup of tea. No one sets out to make something awful (for the most part) and it's fair to want something to be judged by the final product, not what people read third hand on a forum. There's just a lot of reasons why a rightsholder would be frustrated if someone licensing their property doesn't treat it with respect.

I'm not criticizing anyone here for leaking anything (I'm here, aren't I?), because I think the people here are very aware of all this, but it's fair to say that no one should be surprised if leaks annoy the rightsholder.

I hadn't considered revisions to the contract. I do understand that happens. I just kinda feel like Universal is at the point with HHN that they can be choosy with who they deal with and could choose IP's that they can get squared away before they start construction. I don't get why they would build a house around a movie that isn't being released till right at the same time as HHN. Too much stuff that are completely out of their control can wreck their plans and the work they have done. Like any delays in the movie, whether it be filming, production, or release schedule. Even if you say an HHN leak could spoil the movie. Why deal with that? It sounds like we are dealing with 5 IP's in Orlando this year if the rumors are true. Universal can come up with 5 IP's yearly that won't require that kind of worry. It's not like they aren't going to sell out if they do a big horror IP thats been out for a year or two vs one that is coming out this year.

But I digress. It's just amazing to me that Uni doesn't insist on more control when this event is so big.

Thanks for the insight though.

 

[krazyhorrorkid]

I think it’s almost safe to say we are just about there.
And tbh thank god, I have been doing spec season since 2017 (not a really long time) but this has been the most chaotic season I’ve ever experienced. I can’t wait for some clarification and honestly will be glad when this is all over.

 

[Orlando172037]

I think it’s almost safe to say we are just about there.
And tbh thank god, I have been doing spec season since 2017 (not a really long time) but this has been the most chaotic season I’ve ever experienced. I can’t wait for some clarification and honestly will be glad when this is all over.

I’m right there with you

 

[GrimmFan]

Wait, so does this mean he was saying no to that date lol?

I randomly made that statement "May 16th 9:00am EST mark my words", it wasn't really directed to anyone. Legacy replying to that may be confirmation to my random statement haha

 

[Legacy]

Well, unless I'm misinterpreting what he said and/or what Legacy heard was wrong, we should hopefully be getting a shared announcement tomorrow!

And how many times in history have announcements been delayed?

 

[HHN Maddux]

And how many times in history have announcements been delayed?

Just about every single one last year! Just edited in that there could always be a delay as well (my bad for forgetting it).

 

[TheCodeMan95]

I think it’s almost safe to say we are just about there.
And tbh thank god, I have been doing spec season since 2017 (not a really long time) but this has been the most chaotic season I’ve ever experienced. I can’t wait for some clarification and honestly will be glad when this is all over.

It's been tough this year lol. Our trip got cut short because of Ian last year, so we're even MORE excited for this year than usual.

And it just so happens to be a spec season like this haha

 

[Allison]

And if there are any delays, just a gentle reminder to please stay calm & patient.

 

[HHNNewbie]

I really hope they don't go with the "never go alone" bit as I am going alone this year Here's to anyone doing the 7pm RIP tour on Sep 6th with me!

 

[Freak]

I came here to look for the “WHERE’S MAH ANNOUNCEMENT!!?!?!?” posts and I’m disappointed. I was kind of hoping for a mental breakdown on this thread about announcements when there was supposed to be one.

But I wasn’t expecting one anyway. I’ve been around long enough to know that announcements almost never get announced on time. Even Murdy himself in Hollywood will get announcements wrong a lot. I remember there was one time he pricked his thumbs three times before an announcement happened.