The original CHILD'S PLAY didn't quite match the initial screenplay that was written by Don Mancini, but the franchise has been moving forward under Mancini's guidance ever since – at least until MGM recently decided to produce a remake of the first CHILD'S PLAY, a project Mancini isn't happy about at all.
Speaking with Mick Garris in the latest episode of the Post Mortem podcast, Mancini said,
MGM retained the rights to the first movie, so they’re rebooting that. They asked (producer) David Kirschner and I if we wanted to be executive producers. We said no thank you, because we have our ongoing thriving business with Chucky (at Universal). Obviously my feelings were hurt. Ya know, I had just done two movies… forgive me if I sound defensive, [they] were both at 83 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Even though they didn’t get theatrical releases, they were well regarded. And I did create the character and nurture the franchise for three f-cking decades."
Mancini felt patronized by MGM when they asked him to put his name on their remake as executive producer and is concerned that it's going to screw with his livelihood… but he's not letting that situation keep him from his plans to continue the original CHILD'S PLAY continuity with a television series.
He told Garris,
Just from having worked on Hannibal and Channel Zero… I saw an opportunity to reinvent the franchise yet again. One of the things that has kept the franchise alive and thriving for so long is that we’ve reinvented it in different ways, by making it a comedy, and then back to horror. But the sheer storytelling real estate of doing eight to 10 episodes… will allow us to delve into characters and relationships in a way that we’re never afforded in just a 90-minute movie. That’s really exciting to me. We’re going to be able to explore different avenues with different characters that are among fan favorites. A lot of times people will say, ‘What’s Tiffany’s back story?’ and ‘What about Glen or Glenda?’ All these different avenues. Now we have a way of exploring all of this, and that’s really exciting."
After writing so many CHILD'S PLAY / CHUCKY movies on his own, Mancini is also excited to collaborate with other writers on scripts featuring his characters.
One of the things I really loved about working in television was the social aspect of it. Because when you write features, it’s so damn lonely and terrifying. When I first came to work on Hannibal, it was my first experience with the writers’ room. I’m like, ‘Wait a minute, every day, we come into a room with a group of other like-minded horror fanatics, and we talk about Hannibal all day, and we get paid for it?’ This didn’t seem like work to me. And so, doing that with Chucky seems really fun, and I am really excited about inviting other very talented writers to come into it, and see what they will bring to it at this stage."
I'm indifferent to the CHILD'S PLAY remake at this point, but I would really like to see Mancini get his TV series into production.
To hear Mancini's full conversation with Garris, check out the Post Mortem podcast HERE.