‘Child’s Play’ Movie Reboot in the Works

No sooner do we get word that the Child’s Play franchise is being rebooted as a TV show, comes the news that we’re also getting a Child’s Play movie reboot from MGM.

Collider is reporting that their sources are telling them that Lars Klevberg has been tapped to direct the reboot, from a script by Tyler Burton Smith (Kung Fury). The reported angle for the reboot will be a “contemporary reboot involving a group of kids… and a technologically-advanced doll enters their world.”

It’s said that MGM has been developing the reboot under a code name, in the hopes to spring a surprise reboot on fans, much like Adam Wingard’s “The Woods”, which turned out to be the Blair Witch reboot that hit theaters in 2016. However, the report also states that the complications with the rights could also be behind why we’re hearing all of this new info about the franchise.

It seems that MGM has worked out a way to movie ahead with a new film series, while Universal Pictures retains rights to the home video wing of the franchise, which has still been going strong for years now under the supervision of franchise creator Don Mancini, including the 2017 release, Cult of Chucky. With this latest announcement, it seems that Mancini’s wing of the franchise could be headed to TV, with the big screen wide open for whatever MGM has planned for this reboot.

The big question will be if the MGM reboot uses the same Chucky doll character as the one actor Brad Dourif has voiced throughout the franchise, or if a new character could be introduced (for legal reasons, if nothing else). If it’s the latter case, would the Child’s Play concept play well with horror fans in and of itself, or does the franchise need its iconic villain (Chucky) to connect? We’ve seen examples of old horror franchises both achieving massive success (IT), and crashing and burning (Flatliners), so this could go either way.

We’ll keep you updated on the direction of Child’s Play movie AND TV franchises.