“Let me tell ya ’bout my best friend…”
The first trailer for the Child’s Play reboot that arrived back in February turned a lot of folks’ minds about the production, as the teaser promised an effective remake of the original cult favorite horror. Following that, the hype was multiplied tenfold when Mark Hamill was announced to be voicing Chucky in the movie. Now, this second preview gives us a better look at what we can expect when we unwrap the full present this summer.
What marks this remake as a different beast from the first movie is that the killer doll isn’t possessed by the spirit of a serial killer this time around but is instead a super-smart toy – a Buddi doll – imbued with artificial intelligence that goes haywire. A previous promo introduced us to Tim Matheson’s Henry Kaslan, the CEO of the corporation that creates the must-have toy.
Once you get past that, though, the set-up is essentially the same. As you can see in the trailer, Aubrey Plaza’s Karen Barclay gifts her son Andy (Gabriel Bateman) one of these state-of-the-art Chucky dolls for his birthday… and murder and panic ensue. Plus, there’s Brian Tyree Henry as Detective Mike Norris, who’s investigating the weird murders surrounding the Barclays.
There was initially some bad press plaguing the reboot, as creator Don Mancini bad-mouthed the studio for remaking his original movie. Likewise, Jennifer Tilly – AKA Tiffany, the Bride of Chucky – snubbed the first trailer on social media. Since then, however more details on Mancini’s Chucky TV series have come to light, giving longtime fans something to look forward to, while new fans were hooked by the big publicity boost that hiring Hamill brought.
After an impressive pre-release run that’s managed to turn the film’s fate around, then, let’s hope the Lars Klevberg-directed Child’s Play sticks the landing when it hits theaters on June 21st.