Some legitimately surprising news from the Child’s Play franchise this week—not a sentence we were expecting to write in March 2019, if we’re being perfectly honest—with Entertainment Weekly reporting that Mark Hamill has been cast as Chucky the killer doll in the upcoming remake of the 1989 original. The news isn’t shocking so much in terms of Hamill getting the part of a tiny, super-creepy murder toy—he’s one of the most beloved voice actors in the business at this point, with his version of Batman baddie The Joker serving as the character’s definitive portrayal for many fans—but because it means series mainstay Brad Dourif didn’t.
Dourif has played executed-murderer-who-gets-his-soul-stuffed-into-a-Good-Guys-doll Charles Lee Ray in seven Child’s Play movies over the last 30 years, stretching from the original Child’s Play, all the way up to 2017's Cult Of Chucky. But as such, he’s also pretty closely associated with franchise producer Don Mancini, who’s been critical of MGM using its rights to the first movie in order to make this remake, so who knows how this all went down. (Don’t feel too bad for Dourif; he’s still one of the most prolific actors working in American horror, and recently returned to one of his more “respectable” characters, good-hearted sawbones Doc Cochran, via the Deadwood movie.)
Hamill joins a cast that already includes Aubrey Plaza, Gabriel Bateman, and Bryan Tyree Henry, all of whom are presumably going to find themselves scared shitless when their latest toy store purchase starts giggling and cackling out a bunch of Donald Trump tweets in a supervillain’s voice.
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OH YES PLEASE
The Chucky doll’s face was vaguely modeled on Dourif, so I wonder if they’ll redo it to look like Hamill. Of course Disney would never allow it, but a remake where a Luke Skywalker figurine becomes eeeevil would be hilarious. As for Dourif, to me he’ll always be Hazel Motes, founder of the Church of Christ Without Christ.
Seeing as the movie has already completed principal photography, and it looks as though Hamill has just been cast, it’s temporally unlikely that they’ll be modeling the doll on his face.
To me, he is always B-b-b-Billy B-b-b-Bibbitt
a trailer and pics of the doll came out and interestingly the trailer did not show the face but the pictures did which just means they thought the face looked like shit while in motion oooooor thought they’d save that for a later trailer. anywho I personally dont think the face looks like luke skywalker but you might I dunno.
That is such an amazing performance. John Huston’s career as a director has so many great films across so many different genres and eras.
It does really amaze me that, of all the directors who came up during the golden age of the studio system, Huston is the only one I can think of who managed to stay relevant through all the changes of the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s. Oh, he had his share of bloated clunkers -The Bible, Annie – but he also managed to make a pretty astonishing number of near-great to great films. In addition to Wise Blood, there was Night of the Iguana (1964), Fat City (1972), The Man Who Would be King (1975), Under the Volcano (1984), and The Dead (1988).Compare that to contemporaries like Hitchcock and Wilder, who despite one or two solid late outings seemed increasingly shaky as the 60’s wore on, or Welles, who as The Other Side of the Wind demonstrates might have made the switch, could he figure out how to finish a damn movie for a change.
Yeah, and Prizzi’s Honor which was a critical and commercial hit too. Huston has four or five films that could be argued as masterpieces. Just picking my favorite top three is near impossible. Maltese Falcon, African Queen, Asphalt Jungle, Sierra Madre, Man Who Would Be King, Fat City and Wise Blood are all incredible films. I think only Scorsese has made so many great movies over so long a period, and not in so many genres.
This is the only thing about this remake that is at all interesting. He’ll be really good in the role, but the role still belongs to Brad Dourif.
Brad Dourif is still playing Chucky. The original series is still going.
Brad Dourif, however, is no longer playing Hazel Motes.
Hamill will be great in the role, I’m sure, but it’s weird to me that they went with someone who’s basically the same age as Dourif (Hamill is 67 and Dourif is 68) rather than someone much younger who could conceivably have the same kind of lengthy run that Dourif’s had.
This movie seems like it’s going to be a one and done situation anyway.
I feel like the only horror fan who’s excited for this. Yeah, it’ll probably tank, but since it’s in the unusual position of being parallel to and entirely separate from the “main” franchise, I don’t mind if it does. And if it’s good, well hey, that’s awesome. I mean, Curse and Cult had no expectations of being any good, and they both knocked it out of the park. You never know with Chucky.
I’d argue that there’s never been a bad Chucky movie. The first three are great slashers, Bride and Seed are firmly in the stupid but amazing category, Curse is a strin strong return to a darker tone, and finally Cult is a freaking masterpiece.
I wouldn’t describe Seed as “stupid.” It’s a pretty well-conceived piece of camp pop-art.
Oh yeah, when I say stupid I mean that as a compliment. Every decision that went into that movie is baffling, but the whole is a glorious mess
Most of the people that are wary of this is because it is being done without the approval of the original creator / star – who were still making movies in the series just two years ago. It’s an obvious studio cashgrab in nearly all of the bad ways.
Right, but it’s not as high stakes as most reboots, in that the Dourif movies are still very much alive no matter how this one does. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like that they’re making this without creative approval, I just have a gut feeling that it’s going to be a pleasant surprise. (and I’m glad we don’t have a !remindme feature here for when it sucks on ice, haha)
I’ll absolutely give it a shot.I’d love for someone competent (like Jordan Peele) to get his or her hands on an ANOES reboot.
Oh god yes. I want an Elm Street reboot that entirely ditches the established lore beyond “guy named Freddy dies and then kills in dreams”. Robert Englund is so inextricably part of the Freddy we know that I think it’s essential for any replacement to be his own character with only the broadest of similarities. I mean, I still can’t hear 2010 Freddy’s voice without mentally replacing it with how Englund would have delivered those lines. (not that that was the biggest issue with that movie by far…)
That NOES remake was just……nonexistent. It just sat there. It wasn’t scary, it wasn’t interesting, it wasn’t anything.
Exactly. I’ve seen it twice, and I still remember next to nothing about it other than two admittedly kind of cool scenes (the snow in the bookstore and the depressing atmosphere of the cold open). It’s also the only entry I don’t own, because I refuse to pay more than a dollar for a copy, haha. Pains me that my absolute favorite franchise has an entry so bad that my brain refuses to retain memory of it.
In terms of directing, I want Peele sticking to original material. I can see producing a strong remake/reboot of something iconic like NOES – in fact he’s already behind the Candyman remake/reboot – but on his films I want him to really have free reign. He’s already earned it.
That’s fine. Let him produce it then. It will still probably be awesome.
FRANK DARABONT
Hamill joins a cast that already includes Aubrey Plaza…
[Chucky, knife raised enters room. Aubrey rolls eyes. Chucky stabs Aubrey, Aubrey rolls eyes. Chucky goes to Tosche Station to pick up some power converters, Aubrey rolls eyes]
That Aubrey, some range.
Frankly after Legion, I think Aubrey Plaza scares me more than a killer doll.
Yup, this.
I’m imagining something close to ‘The Trickster’s’ voice for Chucky.
So, clearly Chucky is getting revenge for having paid to see The Last Jedi.
Heidi Ho!
for Christ sake
I used some of your own mojo, doc!
News of Dourif’s replacement seems like something that would have better served the project kept under wraps and variously teased and hinted at.
Mark Hamill (kinda like William Shatner) was just a passable actor but his crowning achievement definitely was BTAS Joker. for more recent work he voiced a smart house on Weird City and that was serviceable too I guess.
since this has us all talking ‘bout Dourif, it is my duty to point those who haven’t seen it, towards ‘Death Machine’ (Hardware’s spiritual successor)
great Dourif rants in this movie XD
I was at a 16 mm shorts film fest last night and so happens that one of the clips was an extended interview Hammill did for the release of Star Wars, and the part they played was distinguishing how Harrison Ford obviously appreciates the role of Han Solo but Hammill just GEEKS OUT about the whole thing.Also, apparently there was a joint cattle call – Lucas and De Palma saw a bunch of the same actors who tested for Luke in Star Wars AND Tommy in Carrie. And yes, Hammill did test for Carrie and was initially bummed he didn’t get the job, but said that Katt did a different (and better) job in the role.
This seems like some spot on casting.
Brad Dourif is one of those actors I slowly became aware of. He just kept appearing in things and I was like, “Oh, it’s that dude!”, and now I get really happy when I see he’s in something. My favourite role of his is actually Doc Cochran, which is against type for him, but since I’m not a horror fan it was probably one of the first roles where I really took notice of him. (He’s also great as Luther Boggs in ‘The X-Files’.)
My favorite Dourif role is still Brother Edward/Charles Dexter from the Babylon 5 episode “Passing Through Gethsemane,” but there’s so many wonderful Dourif roles it’s hard to pick just one.
“The Child’s play movies are like exposure therapy for people scared of dolls.” Can I just point out that the premise of this article is complete fucking bullshit, because I wasn’t scared of dolls until those movies came out?
I hope Dourif gets honored somehow. The man’s a legend, and his voice is iconic—even through the worst of the films. That said, obviously Hamill’s going to kill it. His voice acting talent is maybe unparalleled.
I enjoyed the first Child’s Play, mainly b/c of Douriff’s performance, but seriously, once any adult figures out Chucky’s the killer, why is it so fucking hard to deal with him? Grab his wee little arms behind his back, make sure he’s secured, then go rent a fucking wood chipper and toss his overalls-wearing ass in.
fuck this remake noise. i want to know what happens after they leave the mental hospital.