Original 'Child's Play' Director Weighs in on Mark Hamill Voicing Chucky in Reboot

Coming in at the tail end of the '80s, a decade dominated by slashers, Chucky and Child's Play [...]

By Patrick Cavanaugh

Coming in at the tail end of the '80s, a decade dominated by slashers, Chucky and Child's Play left a major impact on the horror genre which continues to be felt to this day. Landing in theaters in June is a new iteration of the franchise, which borrows some elements from the original series though reimagines other perspectives to create a fresh experience. Brad Dourif, who voiced the killer Chucky in all seven previous films, isn't returning for the reboot, with Star Wars and Batman: The Animated Series icon Mark Hamill instead voicing the villain. The director of the original Child's Play took to Twitter to offer his input on the casting decision.

Director Tom Holland shared Hamill's video announcing his involvement while adding the comment, "Smart move." It's hard to argue with Holland's comments as Hamill has not only seen a career resurgence with the sequel trilogy of Star Wars films, but fans also know him as the Joker in the seminal Batman series, making the sadistic Chucky a perfect opportunity to deliver audiences a memorable performance.

While Holland might acknowledge that this is a smart move, devout fans of the series might still be disappointed with the decision.

Filmmaker Don Mancini has written each entry in the Child's Play franchise, minus this upcoming reboot, and directed the last three installments. All seven entries were also produced by David Kirschner, with the producer, Mancini, and Dourif all remaining loyal to the narrative they created, which will be continued in an upcoming TV series.

"MGM retained the rights to the first movie, so they're rebooting that," Mancini pointed out to the Post Mortem Podcast. "They asked David Kirschner and I if we wanted to be executive producers. We said no thank you, because we have our ongoing thriving business with Chucky. Obviously my feelings were hurt. Ya know, I had just done two movies… forgive me if I sound defensive, [they] were both at 83 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Even though they didn't get theatrical releases, they were well regarded. And I did create the character and nurture the franchise for three fucking decades."

One major change to the new film is, rather than including a voodoo component that motivated Chucky's abilities, it will reportedly focus on a doll whose inner A.I. components malfunction.

"So when someone says, 'Oh yeah, we would love to have your name on the film'… it was hard not to feel like I was being patronized. They just wanted our approval. Which I strenuously denied them," Mancini admitted. "I hesitate to say too much about it because I don't want to sound like I'm belly-aching too much. But the producers of that movie are the producers of IT. How would they feel if there was some legal loophole that allowed David Kirschner and I to swoop in and make our own IT movie with our own version of Pennywise and say, 'Hey guys, we would love to put your names on it,'? I imagine they wouldn't like it. That's how I feel."

The new Child's Play lands in theaters on June 21st.

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

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