After nearly over four months since SYFY had officially given a series order to Don Mancini’s Chucky series, the original franchise creator has finally opened up about the forthcoming Child’s Play series. Speaking with Syfy Wire, Mancini has confirmed that the long-in development adaptation will indeed feature new characters and the return of some cast members from the previous films.
“With this TV show, our mission has been to preserve the straightforward scariness of the original film or the first couple of films,” Mancini said. “But at the same time, continue on with this ever-expanding tapestry of consistent story that we’ve spun over the course of seven movies and 30-some years. I think fans are really gonna love to see the new characters that we introduce into this realm and just to see how they came off of our classic characters. Not just Chucky, but some of the others that you may be hoping to see. There’s a good chance they may turn up.”
In addition, he has also teased some new details about the titular killing doll, revealing that fans will get to see the iconic character with a new different goal for the horror series. “I think the prospect of seeing Chucky sharpen his skills and add to his toolbox, some of the technical goodies that we have at our disposal now, that’s something I think people will find pretty interesting. It’s so important to give Chucky new weapons, new strategies, and new targets, new goals. Chucky has a different goal in the TV show than he’s ever had before and it’s specifically something that is designed to evoke something that’s going on in the zeitgeist today.”
RELATED: David Arquette Returning For Scream Reboot!
In the Chucky series, after a vintage Chucky doll turns up at a suburban yard sale, an idyllic American town is thrown into chaos as a series of horrifying murders begin to expose the town’s hypocrisies and secrets. Meanwhile, the arrival of enemies – and allies – from Chucky’s past threatens to expose the truth behind the killings, as well as the demon doll’s untold origins as a seemingly ordinary child who somehow became this notorious monster.
In 1988, Chucky slashed his way into the pop culture zeitgeist with the premiere of Child’s Play directed and co-written by Tom Holland. The international sensation spawned six sequels, all of which Mancini wrote and David Kirschner produced. Last year, Orion Pictures had released a horror remake of the 1988 film which featured Mark Hamill as the voice of Chucky.
RELATED: Exclusive: Robert Englund Discusses Hopes for Nightmare on Elm Street
Mancini (Hannibal) and Kirschner (Hocus Pocus) will executive produced alongside Nick Antoscia (The Act) via his Eat the Cat banner. This project will be Mancini’s second collaboration with Syfy, who have worked on the horror anthology series Channel Zero.
The Child’s Play series has been running for 30 years, with the first film dropping in 1988 to box office success, generally positive reviews and a cult following, spawning six sequels that remained box office successes but slowly started earning more mixed and negative reviews, until the revitalized Curse of Chucky, which returned to the franchise’s horror roots and earned very positive reviews. The most recent installment, Cult of Chucky, was released on Blu-ray and video on demand last October and received strong reviews from critics. Brad Dourif has been a staple of the franchise since its inception, lending his voice to the murderous doll in all of the films.
