‘Child’s Play’ Franchise Star Slams Idea of Reboot

The world of horror is no stranger to reboots, with older films regularly being repurposed to deliver audiences an exciting new adventure. Child’s Play might be breaking new ground with the concept, as the original writer Don Mancini has plans for not only an eighth film, but also a TV series, while MGM has announced they are developing their own reboot without the filmmaker’s involvement. Christine Elise, who starred in Child’s Play 2 and appeared in Cult of Chucky, got quite candid about her thoughts on the planned reboot.

“I think it’s an unbelievably huge dick move. I think it’s a douche move absolutely,” Elise shared with Horror Geek Life. “I don’t know why they would f-*ck with a healthy franchise. To make a competing franchise with an existing, and like you said healthy, robust franchise is super douchey. And nobody from the original franchise is involved; they’re not gonna have [actor] Brad Dourif, they’re not gonna have Don, and they’re not gonna have any of us.”

The franchise chronicles a serial killer whose spirit is injected into the body of a child-like doll, only to go on and execute his deadly desires. Early rumors regarding the reboot will shift the focus away from the spirit of a killer and instead utilize emerging artificial intelligence technology, seemingly only using the name for its recognition.

“I think the doll is going to be an artificial intelligence doll that goes haywire, so it’s not going to have the whole element of the serial killer possessing it, et cetera, so it’s not going to be, really, a Chucky film,” Elise noted. “So I don’t know why they’re just taking the title and stealing it and mucking up the waters.”

Prior to plans of this reboot, Child’s Play already did something virtually unheard of in the world of horror, which is have all films written and produced by the same creative team, Mancini and producer David Kirschner, as well as star Dourif lending his voice to the doll in each film.

“It’s especially douchey when you know that Don is developing a TV series and going back to using the title Child’s Play; not Bride of, Seed of, Curse of, Cult of Chucky, it’s going back to the Child’s Play name and it’s deep into development,” the actress noted.

Mancini, Kirschner, and Dourif have all confirmed they wouldn’t be involved in the MGM reboot and, while it hasn’t happened yet, the reboot’s development could potentially cause legal troubles for the original creative team.

“So this MGM project could have, it hasn’t but it could have, really, easily derailed the TV show project, which would be devastating, because fingers crossed it happens and fingers crossed I’m involved in it, as much as I would like to be,” Elise clarified. “It’s an opportunity here where Don can further a story he’s been telling for 30 years, but rather than tell it in 90-minute segments every three years or more, he can tell 10 hours of story in 10 weeks, he can get that much more story ahead. And if you’ve seen Cult and you see how Cult ends, you know how rich in story it is, there’s so many doors open now, and to so insensitively threaten the Don Mancini empire I think, is f-cked up.”

Fans will have to wait to learn more details about the reboot or the TV series to get a sense of what the future holds for the franchise.

How do you feel about Elise’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 Horror Geek Life]