When the killer doll Chucky first appeared in 1988’s ‘Child’s Play’, to say I wasn’t smitten with the character would be an understatement. Then Universal bought the rights to the character from MGM and made ‘Child’s Play 2’ with the hopes of having a horror franchise along the lines of ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ or ‘Friday the 13th’ which were all the rage during those years. Still, Chucky did nothing for me. Apparently I wasn’t the only one. After the disappointing ‘Child’s Play 3’ in 1991, Chucky disappeared from the big screen.

Then came ‘Bride of Chucky’. In 1998, Universal brought Chucky back with a killer (pun fully intended) sense of black humor, an over-the-top corniness, and a new bride, Tiffany. ‘Bride’ was followed by ‘Seed of Chucky’ which introduced Chucky and Tiffany’s children Glen and Glenda. And then… Chucky’s family vanished from the screen again.

Since then, Universal has been trying to find a way to bring Chucky back to fans. For the longest time, word was that original ‘Child’s Play’ creator, Don Mancini, was working on a script that would totally reboot the series for modern audiences. Mancini’s idea was to bring Chucky back to his horror roots and away from the corny fun into which the series had transformed.

For now at least, it seems that the reboot plans have been scrapped. Bleeding Cool is reporting that Universal and Mancini are moving ahead with a new ‘Child’s Play’ movie that will continue the storyline rather than relaunch it. However, Mancini is still stating that his goal is still to make ‘Child’s Play’ “scary again” so I expect it’ll toss out the Chucky children and possibly even Tiffany.

The new film, titled ‘The Curse of Chucky’ revolves around a handicapped girl named Nica who is confined to a wheelchair. Here’s the synopsis of the film from MovieHole:

When people start turning up dead, the fearless Nica discovers the culprit might be a “strange doll” she was sent a couple of days earlier. Main characters in the film include heroine Nica; Barb, Nica’s older sister, a manipulative, controlling cow that nags her handsome husband Ian and 5-year-old daughter Alice; and Jill, the “smokin’ hot” nanny that’s sleeping with Ian. There’s also fun supporting characters like a meddling priest, who will come face-to-cross with Chucky, and of course, the deceased woman, mother Sarah. But, as I said, it’s Chucky who takes king credit – he’s who we want to see, and by golly, sounds like he’s back to his murderous ways.

Word is that Brad Dourif (‘Lord of the Rings’), who has voiced Chucky in all of the previous movies, will return to the role he made famous. At this time, no word has been made on any other casting but I sincerely hope that Jennifer Tilly returns as Tiffany. Since filming is expected to begin in September, I’m sure a lot of casting announcements will be made soon. Keep your eyes peeled here for more details as we get them.