'Child's Play' Co-Creator Weighs In on First Look at Reboot Chucky

Don Mancini has written all seven installments in the Child's Play franchise but has chosen not to [...]

By Patrick Cavanaugh

Don Mancini has written all seven installments in the Child's Play franchise but has chosen not to be involved with the upcoming reboot of the original film, as he continues to develop sequels to his franchise which is rumored to extend into a TV series. With production on a reboot kicking off this week, the creator took to Twitter to share his thoughts.

The filmmaker might not have directly addressed the subject of his tweet, but his message came shortly after the first look at the new Chucky doll debuted, making it quite clear what his post was in reference to.

In addition to having written each chapter, Mancini directed the last three films, the most recent of which being last year's Cult of Chucky. Mancini isn't the only one who has been involved since the beginning, with producer David Kirschner and actor Brad Dourif also having contributed to every film. All three are reportedly sticking with the series they've been developing for 30 years instead of contributing to the reboot in any capacity.

In the original 1988 film, Charles Lee Ray (Brad Dourif) is critically injured and, before dying, projects his spirit into the body of a Good Guy doll, allowing the pint-sized terror to come to life to fulfill Chucky's murderous proclivities.

The new film, however, will lean into technological terrors over voodoo. Sources shared with ComicBook.com earlier this year that one character, named "Chen," is a "Chinese factory worker who commits suicide shortly after re-programming a Buddy doll to have no limitations." As far as the iconic killer doll is concerned, Chucky is described as "a defective 'Buddy doll' whose programming code was hacked so that he has no limitations to learning and also violence."

Iconic horror movies have regularly undergone the remake treatment, yet this seemingly marks the first time that a reboot has launched while sequels to the original continue to be developed, generating two different canons under the same title.

After a few lulls in popularity, the series is seemingly stronger than ever, with last year's Cult of Chucky intentionally teasing more adventures on the way.

"It points in a specific direction for some of these characters, and where they end up," Mancini told ComicBook.com about how Cult of Chucky changed the franchise. "That is not something I would flee from. I do have ideas of where the next step for these characters will go. I have all kinds of different ideas. This is an ongoing franchise that we want to oversee as we go into the future."

Mancini added, "There are all kinds of possibilities, and that's one of the things I want to do at the end of this movie, was in a completely, new, surprising way, so that the viewer could say 'Wow, where is this going to go now? I didn't see it going in this direction.'"

Stay tuned for details about the futures of both Child's Play series.

What do you think about Mancini's remarks? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!

[H/T Twitter, RealDonMancini]

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