Child's Play 5 (Seed of Chucky)
Everyone horror geek has their favorite series, and by all means, mine is the Childs Play series. Even though a lot of people hated Bride of Chucky, I loved it, I thought it was clever, and funny, and I have been sitting in anticipation for Seed of Chucky for years now, and today Fangoria broke the earth shattering news that its been officially green-lighted for a Halloween 2004 release, with Don Mancini directing! Read on for the story...
Fangoria writes, "After years of delays, SEED OF CHUCKY is now a go! CHILD'S PLAY creator Don Mancini will be writing and directing SEED for Focus Features (ironically, the specialized indie company owned by Universal, which originally abandoned the project during the studio's anti-horror crusade). Filming begins in Romania in March, with a release date already pegged for Halloween 2004."
"We are finally moving forward," Mancini tells FANGORIA. "Thanks to FREDDY VS. JASON, horror is hot again. David Linde, who runs Focus Features, released BRIDE OF CHUCKY internationally, and the film did very well there. So he decided to make SEED. We are currently negotiating with [voice actor] Brad Dourif and [FX chief] Kevin Yagher to return, plus little person Debbie Carrington, who I loved in TOTAL RECALL. Of course, we want Jennifer Tilly back too, who will do the voice of Tiffany and play herself in the new movie, in a satirical vein à la WES CRAVEN'S NEW NIGHTMARE."
And the story of SEED OF CHUCKY? It's the same script that got Universal in a tizzy way back when, dealing with "happy couple" Chucky and Tiffany and their attempts to raise a baby of their own. "The major focus is the family of dolls," Mancini says. "BRIDE OF CHUCKY was a takeoff on the road pictures. SEED OF CHUCKY is a twist on family dramas like ORDINARY PEOPLE and KRAMER VS. KRAMER. The focus this time is on the family, with the point of contention being a gender-confused offspring."
SEED OF CHUCKY will be taking over the second largest soundstage in Romania, where COLD MOUNTAIN shot most recently. The story, however, is set in Hollywood and London. Why Eastern Europe? It's cheaper, of course, so the production will be recreating Tinseltown overseas, but a few pickup shots may be lensed in LA as well. Mancini, who will make his directorial debut on SEED after 2nd unit work on previous entries in the CHILD'S PLAY series (including BRIDE's climactic birth scene, appropriately enough), says he will endeavor to follow in the footsteps of BRIDE helmer Ronny (FREDDY VS. JASON) Yu and cinematographer Peter Pau.
"Ronny and Peter set the bar so high, but that's the direction I want to go in," Mancini notes. "I want to live up to that very stylized look of BRIDE OF CHUCKY. That's my intention. I want those stylish Brian De Palma visuals, which are even more perfect for SEED OF CHUCKY because it is set in glamorous Hollywood."