Chucky Returns: Don Mancini Confirms New Movie Will Bring Franchise Back to Horror Roots

Play-time is almost upon as the Chucky franchise plans a return to theaters after more than two decades.

via: Bleeding Cool

It shouldn't be to anyone's surprise, but Chucky is way too big to really die. Fans were wondering what's next for the horror black comedy franchise since the TV series was abruptly canceled by SYFY after three seasons in 2024. Naturally, it will go back to its roots on the big screen, according to creator Don Mancini, who made the announcement at Steel City Con in Pennsylvania. The killer doll first made an appearance in the 1988 original, Child's Play, which focused on serial killer Charles Lee Ray (Brad Douriff), who was on the run after being chased by police. Fatally wounded, Charles imparts his soul into a Good Guy doll in a dark ceremony before his body dies. With a mounting body count and several deaths of Chucky, the franchise would spawn six sequels, a reboot without the original creatives or talent involved, and the SYFY/USA series. The final film canonized before the TV series was 2017's Cult of Chucky.

Mancini revealed that the seventh Chucky film will harken back to his approach in 2013's Curse of Chucky, the sixth film, which also brought Dourif's daughter, Fiona Dourif, into the fold as Nica. According to Bloody Disgusting, the film was initially planned to be a full-on reboot before it was connected to the previous films, while also bringing back the horror vibes of the original Child's Play films. The Chucky TV series embraced the entire filmography, including the campier Bride of Chucky and Seed of Chucky, which introduced new characters like Tiffany (Jennifer Tilly) and Glen/Glenda (voiced by Billy Boyd). Mancini also promised the seventh film would tie all the previous established canon while ignoring the 2019 remake.

When we last left the franchise, the series focused on a young "Terror Trio" of Jake Wheeler (Zackary Arthur), his boyfriend Devon Evans (Björgvin Arnarson), and his former foster sister, Lexy Cross (Alyvia Alyn Lind), who are dealing with high school, but also meet Chucky and his manipulative and murderous ways. At the series's end, the trios' souls are trapped with dolls themselves. Lind, for one, was not going to be resigned to Lexy's fate, telling Bleeding Cool in September 2025, "If there is anything to do with the movie, extra season, limited series, anything in the future, sign me up! I love that show so much and the people involved so much! I have not heard anything at this point, sadly, but if there is, I am so there, and I'm so down. I want to give The Terror Trio an end, and it doesn't sit right with me that their souls are stuck in dolls forever. That cannot be their end!" Chucky is available to stream on Peacock.

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All I want is the franchise to go back to it's scary roots of the original film. It got to campy for me, and after the first season of Chucky I completely bailed on the series because it got ridiculous.