The upcoming Child’s Play reboot will make some deviations from the concept of the original film, though the killer doll will retain his familiar moniker. Bloody Disgusting reports that the doll will indeed be named “Chucky.”
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In the original film, Charles Lee Ray (Brad Dourif) is a murderer who meets his end in a fatal shootout, but not before he can perform a voodoo ritual that transfers his spirit into the body of a pint-sized Good Guy doll. When a young boy is gifted the doll, the murderous “Chucky” comes to life to continue his reign of terror while searching for a more appropriate host to inhabit.
Reports about this new take on the concept have changed the doll’s branding to a “Buddi” doll, while also revealing the approach to the terrors would be about artificial intelligence as opposed to the spirit of the murderer. With Charles Lee Ray being absent from the upcoming remake, it’s unclear how the doll will earn the nickname, which we’ll likely find out closer to the film’s release.
What makes this new reboot interesting is that original writer Don Mancini, producer David Kirschner, and actor Brad Dourif have all remained involved in the series throughout its seven-film legacy, with the trio currently working on a Child’s Play TV series. However, the trio has no involvement in the reboot, with possible rights issues to the franchise forcing this new take on the concept.
While the original film and its multiple sequels established the concept of the wise-cracking killer doll, Mancini recently revealed his original plan for the film.
“In the original premise, Chucky — or Buddy as he was called then — was not possessed by a serial killer. Instead, in my script, the supernatural inciting incident was different,” writer Don Mancini shared with The Hollywood Reporter. “The way that the doll came to life was that because Andy is a lonely kid — no dad around, his mom is a busy working mother — in that classic rite of brotherhood he cuts his own thumb and the doll’s thumb so they’ll be best friends forever —‘friends ’til the end’ — and after that the murders start.”
That incarnation of the film was titled “Blood Buddy,” with this remake’s inclusion of the Buddi brand likely a reference to the original concept. Rather than a killer doll enacting his own vengeance, the doll was acting out the desires of his young owner as initially conceived by Mancini.
Stay tuned for details on the new Child’s Play, which will land in theaters on June 21, 2019.
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