These days, continuity is for losers. If a franchise can be rebooted, re-jigged, and re-invented for a few extra bucks, it will be. ‘Bollocks to continuity,’ say the studio heads (probably). And that seems exactly what’s going to happen to CHILD’S PLAY, with reports coming in that the fifth sequel is finally happening. Whilst the new film – titled CURSE OF CHUCKY – won’t be a complete reboot, it will apparently erase the last two sequels (BRIDE OF CHUCKY and SEED OF CHUCKY), placing itself as a direct follow-on to 1991’s CHILD’S PLAY 3. Presumably this will mean Jeniffer Tilly’s femme fatale doll Tiffany will be absent.
The new film will also see the franchise return to a more serious tone, with the focus firmly on the scares rather than the postmodern humour of BRIDE and SEED. For those suspicious of such franchise tinkering – fear not, for CHILD’S PLAY maestro Don Mancini (who has co-written all the films to date) will return as screenwriter, director, and producer. Brad Dourif is also set to return as the voice of Chucky.
The news will come as a relief to some fans of the franchise: there has been much talk of a remake or reboot these past few years, and CHILD’S PLAY remains the last prominent 1980s slasher franchise to not be massacred by a Platinum Dunes-style facelift. You only need to look at THE NIGHTMARE ON ELM ST, FRIDAY THE 13TH or TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE remakes to see what might be in store for a re-imagined CHILD’S PLAY. Even if the new film is poor – and as a straght-to-DVD effort, chances are it will be – at least it will be faithful to the spirit of the original.
CURSE OF CHUCKY will focus on a family who are reunited at a funeral. When members of the dysfunctional family are murdered, suspicion falls to a strange doll our wheelchair-bound heroine Nica was mysteriously delivered only days before. Spooky stuff.
CURSE OD CHUCKY will begin shooting September this year.
Source: MovieHole
