Chucky Series Ordered at Syfy from Child Play’s Creator Don Mancini

January 13, 2020

After landing the rights to original franchise creator Don Mancini’s Child’s Play series last year, Syfy has finally given a straight-to-series order the long-in development horror series titled Chucky, centering on the iconic titular serial killer doll. On top of executive producing, Mancini, who had also written the original film franchise, is set to write the series adaptation and will serve as the showrunner and first episode’s director.

“The character Don and David created has terrified audiences for over 30 years. The longevity and legacy of Chucky speaks to the creative storytelling and the loyal fans the film series has collected over the years,” President of Entertainment Networks – USA & SYFY, Chris McCumber in a statement (via The Futon Critic). “We are excited to once again partner with Nick and UCP on this new SYFY series, and are incredibly proud to bring Chucky to television for the first time with the original creators.”

In the Chucky series, after a vintage Chucky doll turns up at a suburban yard sale, an idyllic American town is thrown into chaos as a series of horrifying murders begin to expose the town’s hypocrisies and secrets. Meanwhile, the arrival of enemies – and allies – from Chucky’s past threatens to expose the truth behind the killings, as well as the demon doll’s untold origins as a seemingly ordinary child who somehow became this notorious monster.

In 1988, Chucky slashed his way into the pop culture zeitgeist with the premiere of Child’s Play directed and co-written by Tom Holland. The international sensation spawned six sequels, all of which Mancini wrote and David Kirschner produced. Last year, Orion Pictures had released a horror remake of the 1988 film which featured Mark Hamill as the voice of Chucky.

Mancini (Hannibal) and Kirschner (Hocus Pocus) will executive produced alongside Nick Antoscia (The Act) via his Eat the Cat banner. This project will be Mancini’s second collaboration with Syfy, who have worked on the horror anthology series Channel Zero.

The Child’s Play series has been running for 30 years, with the first film dropping in 1988 to box office success, generally positive reviews and a cult following, spawning six sequels that remained box office successes but slowly started earning more mixed and negative reviews, until the revitalized Curse of Chucky, which returned to the franchise’s horror roots and earned very positive reviews. The most recent installment, Cult of Chucky, was released on Blu-ray and video on demand last October and received strong reviews from critics. Brad Dourif has been a staple of the franchise since its inception, lending his voice to the murderous doll in all of the films.