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Why Universal’s Planned ‘Child’s Play’ Remake Never Happened

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Right now, MGM is filming a remake of the original Child’s Play. Ain’t that rich? They sold the franchise in the’ 80s because they wanted to get out of the horror business. Then it became a lucrative success for Universal so the new MGM wants to exploit the one they still own. Die hard Chucky fans may remember there was talk of a Child’s Play remake with creator Don Mancini that never happened. Fortunately, he made Curse of Chucky instead.

At the Screamfest Q&A for the 20th anniversary screening of Bride of Chucky, Mancini revealed what happened to his remake.

“There was a brief time when we were talking about it because that was so en vogue,” Mancini said. “This was when Jason got his reboot and Freddy got his reboot.”

From Platinum Dunes’ 2003 remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre to their 2010 remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street, the ‘00s were dominated by remakes of classic horror films. The problem is, even if most of them made money, fans of the franchises didn’t exactly love them.

“They didn’t really make that much of a splash, so then people started to rethink that,” Mancini said. “We thought with Curse we could have our cake and eat it too. We made it sort of a tonal reboot that turned out to be a sequel in disguise if that makes sense.”

Curse of Chucky was actually positioned as a reboot of sorts. It was still Brad Dourif as Chucky, but the idea was he was terrorizing a brand new character, Nica (Fiona Dourif). Only in the middle did it turn out Nica had some connection to Charles Lee Ray, and by the end, Tiffany (Jennifer Tilly) and Andy Barclay (Alex Vincent) returned.

“I think that’s one of the most unusual things about our franchise is that we actually have 30 years and seven films and counting,” Mancini said.

“This is an incredibly complicated history of all these characters. We then start bringing people back. We brought Andy back in Curse and Kyle back in Cult. Stay tuned to see who else comes back.”

As for that other remake in production, it won’t affect Mancini’s plans for an official Chucky TV series, and he maintains his position on that other movie.

“I don’t know her,” Mancini said.

Screamfest continues through Thursday, October 18.

Interviews

‘Immaculate’ Director Michael Mohan on Religious Horror and Why You Can’t Pull Punches [Halloweenies Podcast]

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Immaculate SXSW Horror

This weekend, Neon is releasing its highly anticipated new slice of horror Immaculate. Directed by Michael Mohan, Sydney Sweeney stars as an American nun named Cecilia who joins a remote convent in the Italian countryside. What begins as a warm welcome quickly devolves into a living nightmare as Cecilia discovers her new home harbors a sinister secret and unspeakable horrors. You can see it with a crowd this Friday.

In anticipation, Halloweenies co-host/executive producer Michael Roffman sits down with director Michael Mohan to discuss how he approached making his first horror film. Together, the two chat about the effects of religious horror in 2024, Sweeney’s Scream Queen magic, the ending everyone’s going to be talking about, and why Horror needs zero rules. He also offers some choice Horror recommendations.

Stream the episode below or subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, RadioPublic, Acast, Google Podcasts, and RSS. New to the Halloweenies? Catch up with the gang by revisiting their essential episodes on past franchises such as Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, Scream, The Evil Dead, and this past year’s Chucky! This year? The Alien franchise.

You can also become a member of their Patreon, The Rewind, for hilariously irreverent commentaries (e.g. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Gremlins, Jaws), one-off deep dives on your favorite rentals (e.g. Killer Klowns from Outer Space, Invasion of the Body Snatchers ), and even spinoffs like their recent run Fortune & Glory: An Indiana Jones Podcast.

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