UPDATE: The video shown at WonderCon to announce Mark Hamill's casting as the voice of the new Chucky has been added below.
Earlier this month we heard that an A-list actor would be providing the voice of the killer doll Chucky in director Lars Klevberg's upcoming remake of the '80s horror classic CHILD'S PLAY – and today the name of that actor was announced during a panel at the WonderCon convention in Anaheim, California.
The A-lister whose voice will be coming from the new Chucky doll is Mark Hamill, who has been a household name since first appearing as Luke Skywalker in 1977's STAR WARS. Hamill is also a veteran voice actor who has racked up many cartoon and video game credits over the decades, with his most famous vocal performance being the Batman villain The Joker, a character he has voiced dozens of times.
In this CHILD'S PLAY, which was written by Tyler Burton Smith, the doll with Hamill's voice will be menacing a cast that includes Gabriel Bateman, Aubrey Plaza, Brian Tyree Henry, Beatrice Kitsos, Ty Consiglio, and Carlease Burke.
Just like the original film, this one is about
a mother (Plaza) who gives her son (Bateman) a toy doll for his birthday, unaware of its more sinister nature.
The new Chucky doll is
a sinister entity that has been updated to match today’s marketplace concepts of playthings. This time around, Chucky is an “Artificial Intelligence human companion” manufactured by the Kaslan Corp, the world’s leading developer of interactive tech products for home and lifestyle.
The CHILD'S PLAY remake was produced by David Katzenberg and Seth Grahame-Smith through their company KatzSmith Productions. MGM subsidiary Orion Pictures will be releasing the film through their United Artists Releasing banner on June 21st.
While Hamill takes over the role of Chucky in the remake, Brad Dourif will be continuing to provide the voice of the original Chucky in a series that's in development at Syfy and will serve as a follow-up to the previous seven films in the franchise.