Syfy acquires the rights to Child’s Play TV series Chucky

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Don Mancini, writer of every film in the CHILD'S PLAY franchise and director of the last few entries (SEED OF CHUCKY, CURSE OF CHUCKY, CULT OF CHUCKY) has been planning to take Chucky the killer doll into the realm of television, and now he has found the network Chucky will be calling home: Syfy.

Syfy has come out the winner in a competitive situation for the rights to develop the Chucky TV series. This show will, of course, focus on 

the character at the center of the horror/slasher Child’s Play film series, the red-haired, freckled-faced doll possessed by the soul of notorious serial killer, Charles Lee Ray.

Mancini will be writing the show and executive producing it alongside David Kirschner and Nick Antosca. Mancini and Antosca previously worked together on Hannibal and Channel Zero. Syfy just recently cancelled Antosca's Channel Zero anthology show, but clearly there were no hard feelings.

Antosca had this to say about the Universal Cable Prods. project: 

Syfy is the perfect place to tell the next chapter in the Chucky saga and having the original creative team lead the project will help elevate the story we are excited to tell."

Mancini adds: 

I've long wanted to bring Chucky to television and Syfy is the perfect network for us. The show will be a fresh take on the franchise, allowing us to explore Chucky's character with a depth that is uniquely afforded by the television series format, while staying true to the original vision that has terrorized audiences for over three decades now."

Bill McGoldrick, President of Scripted Content at NBCU Cable Entertainment, gave the network's perspective:

It's very rare that you get the opportunity to bring such an iconic character to your network, let alone with the original creator attached. We look forward to working with Don, David and Nick on putting their blood, sweat, and more blood into bringing the Chucky story to television."

Chucky himself even gave a statement on his move to television: 

In these troubled times, I believe it's my obligation as a horror icon to reach the widest possible audience, on TV. For over thirty years, I've been scaring the sh*t out of you. But now at Syfy, I look forward to really making a difference."

Mancini had originally intended for the TV series to use the Child's Play title, but since MGM has put a CHILD'S PLAY remake into production it looks like the show is simply going to be called Chucky.

Hopefully things work out better for Chucky at Syfy than they did for the TREMORS mini-series that was going to star Kevin Bacon. The pilot episode for that didn't even make it on the air.