Like it or not, we’re getting a remake of Child’s Play next summer. While this wouldn’t ordinarily be too hard of a thing to swallow (us horror fans are undoubtedly numbed to it by now), MGM’s reimagining of the property will inexplicably coexist with the original canon, which its creator Don Mancini (writer of every film to date) is continuing via the burgeoning direct to home video market. His last entry in the series, 2017’s fantastic Cult of Chucky, ended on yet another enticing cliffhanger, and the likelihood is that we’ll see that story follow on next year too, in the form of the upcoming Chucky TV series (read our most recent article on that here). We’re annoyed on Mancini’s part, and you can bet general audiences will be as confused as hell, but we can take some solace in imagining Chucky Prime having some future swipes at his bigger budget, more mainstream doppelganger, especially given the cheeky chap’s penchant for meta humour. (He’s basically the Deadpool of the slasher genre at this point.)
And as for said doppelganger, despite appearances, this is no Good Guy. Meet Buddi! As it’s 2018, that ‘i’ stands for interactive of course, and this new version of the toy can now be hooked up to the internet and controlled via an app. Passing over the possession angle of the original, newcomer Tyler Burton Smith’s screenplay will employ a more contemporary ‘ghost in the machine’ approach, with Buddi’s A.I. going full-Ultron.
Today marks the launch of a brand new, admittedly cool, in-universe website dedicated to the product featured in the movie, so if you’re interested to gleam further clues about MGM’s approach, check it out here – BestBuddi.com. The first thing that jumps out to us is the heightened presence of the company behind Buddi itself – the Kaslan Corporation. Could they be just as implicit in the mayhem as Buddi itself? Are they cinema’s new Silver Shamrock? Skynet? Just speculation on our part, but it would be an interesting way to broaden the scope of the overly-familiar killer doll concept.
In all honesty, we don’t even mind the use of the Child’s Play branding (the original series ditched it themselves post-Child’s Play 3 anyway), but given the changes we already know about, why couldn’t they have just differentiated their antagonist’s appearance and save us all the hassle of having to roll our eyes every time a story like this one pops up on a website?
Child’s Play will hit cinemas next June, and stars Gabriel Bateman as its new Andy, Aubrey Plaza as his mother, and Brian Tyree Henry as the investigating detective. Lars Klevberg (Polaroid) directs.
