Get The Chuck Out of Here. Don Mancini Won't Attach His Name To Child's Play Reboot
Hello nerds!
For those unfamiliar, there’s more than one upcoming project for the Child’s Play franchise and they both sound “interesting”.
Some time ago, Chucky creator Don Mancini announced a TV series was in the works for the murderous moppet, and the show would continue the terrific story they told in last year’s Cult of Chucky. Sounds great, I know. Well, as it so happens, there is also a big screen movie coming out next year that will reboot the franchise entirely, but it does not involve Don Mancini or any of the original cast whatsoever. It already sounds sketchy.
The reboot will look to cash in on the recent success of the “kids against monsters” formula and focus on a group of kids who will face off against a technologically-advanced doll, called “Buddi”. It’s like The Monster Squad VS Chucky/I, Robot. Oh, and rest assured the “new” Chucky looks terrible as well. If the whole thing is sounding a little dumb to you, you’re not alone. As it happens, Don Mancini is not a fan of the reboot or the studio producing it.
Mancini was on Post Mortem with Mick Garris and he revealed MGM reached out to him to see if he’d like to have the glamor credit of executive producer on the film. And his response is likely what you’re expecting.
“MGM retained the rights to the first movie, so they’re rebooting that. They asked producer 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. Ya know, I had just done two movies… forgive me if I sound defensive, they were both at 83 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Even though they didn’t get theatrical releases, they were well regarded. And I did create the character and nurture the franchise for three fucking decades.”
It’d be easy to write Mancini’s words off as sour grapes, but as he’s been lovingly crafting this franchise for over 30 years, you can kinda see where’s he’s coming from. The wildly popular last chapter to the film franchise, Cult of Chucky, has been a hit with both fans and critics alike, so the reboot is a bit of an FU to Mancini. I am however all for the upcoming the upcoming TV series will pick up after the fucking insane ending of Cult of Chucky.
The series even stars nearly every surviving member of the franchise with Brad Dourif, Fiona Dourif, Alex Vincent and Jennifer Tilly all set to reprise their respective roles. Oh, oh, oh, annnnnd following the tease at the end of Curse of Chucky, we’re also likely to see the return of Catherine Hicks as Karen Barclay and Chris Sarandon as Detective Mike Norris. Shit yes!
In short, bring on the TV show. The rebooted film? Not so much.
If you love monster movies, superheroes, and the 80s be sure to check out the latest podcast.
Action movies that take place during Christmas, Guardians of the Galaxy 3 possibly found a director, Infinity War will be on Netflix for the holidays, Hugh Jackman could return as Wolverine, and Deadpool PG-13 might be worth a trip to the cinema. #FredSavageRules
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