Interviews
Ronny Yu Never Finished ‘Bride of Chucky’; Here’s How His First Cut Was Different
Bride of Chucky is a lot of fans’ favorite Chucky movie, thanks largely to director Ronny Yu’s style. The acclaimed Hong Kong director brought his visual sense and macabre humor to Don Mancini’s self-referential script. But, it turns out he left the film before the movie was finished.
At a Screamfest Q&A for a 20th anniversary screening of Bride of Chucky, producer David Kirschner revealed that Yu went back to China before finishing his first cut of the film. The cut wasn’t going well so Mancini and the editor actually took it over and made Bride of Chucky the kind of classic that gets a 20th anniversary celebration.
“Ronny left after we finished the film. He started to work on a cut and we were not happy with it,” Kirschner said.
“I think he just missed home. He missed his wife and his family. Don really stepped up. It was at that point for me that I saw that he was now ready to move on to the next film and be the director. He really brought so much to it with how he really edited that film with Randy Bricker who Don has continued a relationship.”
Keep in mind that rough cuts are usually far from the completed film. Often running too long, they are the first attempt to put the movie together before it’s whittled down into shape. The difference in Yu’s cut, Kirschner said, was pacing.
“It’s not that it was ever a completed cut,” Kirschner said. “We just saw what he was doing and we were unhappy with it. The pacing was not there. Don and Corey Sienega – who produced the film with us – we went to the editing room and worked with them. He had shot it all but the choices and pieces were not there in my mind for what it would become.”
Bride of Chucky was only Yu’s second American film after Warriors of Virtue. Remember in the ‘90s, Hollywood was poaching Hong Kong directors like John Wu, Tsui Hark and Ringo Lam as well. So Yu wasn’t fluent in English, which perhaps contributed to communication issues and deciding to leave the final cut in American hands.
“I think it was a rough first cut,” Mancini said.
“It just wasn’t ready. His English wasn’t superb. I think that was an issue. Sometimes there was a communication issue. He was more the visuals.”
All respect to Ronny Yu, his essential contribution to Bride of Chucky was bringing on his Bride with White Hair cinematographer Peter Pau, who later won an Oscar for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. That was no easy sell on the studio.
“Peter Pau deserves so much credit,” Kirschner said. “We were so blown away by the way that it looked. Universal did not want to hire him. He was older. He spoke almost no English. They wanted someone cool and hip and someone that was doing videos. We fought tooth and nail to have this guy who had done The Bride With White Hair with Ronny.”
Screamfest continues through Thursday, October 18.
As the inaugural season of Apple TV+’s stellar new series “Widow’s Bay” barrels toward its finale in two weeks, the latest episode gives Kate O’Flynn the spotlight as her character revisits her trauma with the Boogeyman.
“Your Baggage“, directed by Andrew DeYoung (Friendship), sees O’Flynn’s scene-stealing Patricia once again renew her fight with the Michael Myers-like stalker that slaughtered her peers during her adolescence. Thrillingly, it makes for one extended chase sequence that sees Patricia trying to warn others, while evading the undead killer.
In short, this episode’s incredible riff on Halloween and the slasher subgenre transformed Patricia into a fierce Final Girl.
“Well, that felt like a bucket list that I didn’t know was on my bucket list until I did it, but when I did it, I just lapped up every minute,” O’Flynn tells Bloody Disgusting of her triumphant turn this episode. “It felt fantastic for her to get that moment where she is becoming a badass. That was amazing.”
The actress turned to a few notable references for her performance. “Horror-wise, I go back to my youth, which was referenced in some of the episodes: Wicker Man, Carrie, and Rosemary’s Baby, that sort of thing is my kind of vibe.”
O’Flynn also notes how the series’ unique tone allows for so much creative freedom to make bold swings. “There’s something very freeing about it. Every moment is up for grabs, so it’s like we don’t have to totally land in one direction or another. It keeps it alive.“
Patricia is the eccentric assistant to Matthew Rhys‘ Mayor Tom Loftis, who’s at the forefront of trying to solve the island’s pesky curse predicament. Rhys felt the same about “Widow’s Bay” and its rare ability to make you laugh and scream in equal measure, stemming from series creator Katie Dippold.
“The mandate was, ‘It’s a real world with real people. You play for real.’ There’s no playing for comedy or horror,” Rhys echoes O’Flynn’s sentiments on how freeing the series’ tone has been.
New episodes will release every Wednesday through June 17 only on Apple TV+.
Kate O’Flynn in “Widow’s Bay,” now streaming on Apple TV.
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