Next week we’ll get our first proper look at the new incarnation of everyone’s favorite homicidal doll, Chucky. This new Child’s Play movie will mark a branching of the franchise, with the pic being the start of a new continuity and the original story that began in the 1988 movie continuing in Syfy’s Child’s Play TV show. This is hardly an amicable parting of the ways though, as it seems that MGM have proceeded with the reboot without the blessing of series creator Don Mancini.
In an interview back in December, he explained his feelings on the project as so:
“MGM retained the rights to the first movie, so they’re rebooting that. They asked David Kirschner and I if we wanted to be executive producers. We said no thank you, because we have our ongoing thriving business with Chucky. Obviously my feelings were hurt… I did create the character and nurture the franchise for three fucking decades… So when someone says, ‘Oh yeah, we would love to have your name on the film’… it was hard not to feel like I was being patronized. They just wanted our approval. Which I strenuously denied them.”
I totally sympathize with Mancini on this one, as it’s got to be rough to have a studio take a character you’re so attached to (not to mention one you’re still actively working with) and do their own thing with it.
Further strikes against this upcoming project are that the new Chucky will not be voiced by Brad Dourif, whose idiosyncratic delivery has cemented him as the Chucky in every fan’s mind. Then there’s the fact that the new design just looks a bit crappy.
All that said, I’m at least willing to give this new project a chance. After all, director Lars Klevberg has a lot to prove with the movie (though his upcoming film Polaroid apparently isn’t that hot). Plus, at the end of the day, I’m sure MGM’s betting that the general audience will go on name recognition alone and turn up for a new Child’s Play totally ignorant of any behind the scenes drama. As such, let’s reserve judgment until we’ve at least seen the trailer.
