‘Child’s Play’ Reboot Teaser Lands in Theaters

A reimagining of the Child’s Play franchise is landing in theaters later this year, despite the creators of the original film still crafting stories within the 30-year-old narrative. The first teaser for the film has debuted in theaters ahead of the film’s June 21st release.

The teaser hasn’t been officially been released online and can only be seen ahead of the new release The Prodigy. Fans who were hoping to get a good look at what to expect from the new film, however, might be left disappointed with the teaser.

Lasting just over a minute, the first half of the teaser serves as a fake commercial for the company that is creating the “BUDDI” toy before it cuts to the human characters who come to possess a seemingly malfunctioning doll with a killer instinct. The second half of the trailer features a variety of shots that imply horrifying situations, all while keeping the killer doll obscured in shadows. In case you were thinking of heading to the theater merely to see the teaser, you’ll likely be left with just as many questions as you had before witnessing the brief promo.

Reactions to the new reboot have been mixed, as some devout fans are happy to see their beloved franchise getting a big budget treatment that will land in theaters. Other fans, however, are frustrated that the film will lack many of the core narrative beats that makes the franchise so unique, especially while writer Don Mancini, producer David Kirschner, and actor Brad Dourif continue to craft compelling stories that fall within the original timeline.

Luckily, a reboot of Child’s Play doesn’t mean the original narrative has to end, as Mancini, Kirschner, and Dourif are all working on a Child’s Play TV series for SYFY.

“I’ve long wanted to bring Chucky to television and SYFY is the perfect network for us,” Mancini recently shared in a statement about the series being developed. “The show will be a fresh take on the franchise, allowing us to explore Chucky’s character with a depth that is uniquely afforded by the television series format,while staying true to the original vision that has terrorized audiences for over three decades now.”

Mancini previously revealed that it was his master plan to end the last film, Cult of Chucky in a way that would leave the possibility open for a TV series.

“We deliberately ended Cult [of Chucky] with a bunch of cliffhangers to set up a TV series,” Mancini shared with the audience at Screamfest last fall. “Because there are so many different threads now, television could best accommodate that so that was done intentionally. At the same time, we have a whole new world, a bunch of new characters which we can say nothing about.”

While it’s possible that this reboot could merely draw more attention back to the original franchise, there’s also a chance that it splits the focus of fans and detracts attention from the TV series.

Stay tuned for details about the Child’s Play reboot before it hits theaters on June 21st.

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