The upcoming Child’s Play reboot remains a topic of controversy among the fans. MGM’s decision to push ahead with the horror film without the involvement or permission of series creator Don Mancini has been met with considerable backlash, due in part to the man himself already having plans for his own Child’s Play: The TV Series. It surely doesn’t help that the upcoming movie will propose a considerably different origin story for the psychotic Chucky either, doing away with the doll’s possession-based roots to suggest a robot toy who’s been programmed for evil.
Nonetheless, it’s hard to find much fault in these two casting choices for the next Child’s Play. Collider reports that actors Aubrey Plaza and Brian Tyree Henry are both in talks to feature in the flick, and regardless of what you think of the project as a whole, MGM could certainly do much worse than landing this pair.
Aubrey Plaza of Parks and Recreation and Ingrid Goes West fame is said to be in negotiations to play a mother in the movie – most likely Karen, the mom of main character Andy. ComicBook.com previously relayed a statement which told us that Karen will be “a bit of a mess but loves her son very much. She lives in a small apartment and has a job at a superstore that sells Buddy dolls. By chance, she takes home the dysfunctional Buddy doll before it is returned to the factory, as she can’t afford a birthday gift for her son.”
Plaza’s comedy roots seem a strong indication that the Child’s Play franchise won’t lose its sense of humor in the reboot. As for Henry, the star of Atlanta and the upcoming If Beale Street Could Talk is in talks to play a detective, which probably makes his chances of living to see the end of the movie a little slimmer than Plaza’s.
While MGM’s handling of the property has been met with much condemnation – including from a former cast member of the franchise – we can at least hold out hope that the next Child’s Play will be a worthwhile horror film in its own right, and casting these two talents looks to be a step in the right direction.
