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 Seed of Chucky Production NotesDeliver us some evil.
The killer doll is back! The all-new film is the fifth in the popular series of Chucky (“Child’s Play”) horror comedies. Making his directorial debut is the franchise creator and writer of all five films, Don Mancini.
The film introduces Glen (voiced by “The Lord of the Rings” star Billy Boyd), the orphan doll offspring of the irrepressible devilish-doll-come-to-life Chucky (again voiced by series star Brad Dourif) and his equally twisted bride Tiffany (again voiced by Jennifer Tilly).
When production starts on a movie detailing the urban legend of his parents’ lethal exploits, Glen heads for Hollywood where he brings his bloodthirsty parents back from the dead. The family dynamics are far from perfect as Chucky and Tiffany go Hollywood and get rolling on a new spree of murderous mayhem – much to gentle Glen’s horror.
Chucky can’t believe that his child doesn’t want to walk in his murdering footsteps, and star-struck Tiffany can’t believe that the movie will star her favorite actress, Jennifer Tilly (playing herself), who soon becomes an unwitting hostess to this new family in more ways than one...
Costarring are hip-hop superstar Redman (playing himself), as a rapper-turned-director casting a Bible epic which Jennifer is determined to headline; U.K. actress/singer Hannah Spearritt as Joan, the gracious but put-upon personal assistant/confidante to Jennifer who finds out firsthand how crazy the movie business can really get; and notorious filmmaker John Waters, as sleazy tabloid paparazzo Pete Peters.
Chuck Amuck: The Saga So Far
In the sixteen years since he first tore across the silver screen (and into his terrified prey) with his shock of red hair (among even nastier shocks), Chucky has become a horror icon. Referenced in everything from hip-hop shout-outs to TV series to talk radio, Chucky is a pop-culture antihero whose appeal extends beyond that of other latter-day movie fiends. Now, the creative team that has been behind this killer doll since the beginning is taking him to the next nefarious level with Seed of Chucky.
Chucky was brought to life in the late 1980s. At that time, screenwriter Don Mancini (who wrote the story and co-wrote the screenplay for the first movie in the Chucky series, Child’s Play) and producer David Kirschner (who created the actual doll itself as part of making that first movie) began a creative collaboration on the Chucky movies that continues to this day. Child’s Play, released in November 1988, was a sleeper boxoffice hit, spawning a successful franchise that has fans all over the world.
In the first movie, Chucky (voiced in all five movies by Brad Dourif) was introduced as a “Good Guy” doll come to life – but gone psychopathic. An amulet-wearing serial killer, Charles Lee Ray (played by Dourif), had been hunted down and shot by Chicago police in a department store. As the murderer lay dying, he summoned the voodoo power of the ancient amulet to cast an incantation transferring his soul into the nearest body – which was that of the two-foot-tall doll. Chucky went on the attack against unsuspecting and unlucky humans, panicking his new “owner,” young Andy Barclay (played by Alex Vincent and, later, Justin Whalin). Wherever Andy fled to, Chucky pursued him, intent on transferring his soul into Andy’s body to live – and kill – anew as a human being.
Child’s Play 2 (1990) and Child’s Play 3 (1991) further followed the tooth-and-plastic battle between the two “friends to the end,” establishing Chucky’s persona as a unique screen villain – one whose demeanor could turn on a dime from humorous to frightening. Mancini and Kirschner, joined by the latter’s producing partner Corey Sienega, reunited to take the series (and Chucky) in a new direction for Bride of Chucky (1998). Charles Lee Ray’s lovelorn and lethal girlfriend, Tiffany (played by Jennifer Tilly), cast a voodoo spell to resurrect Chucky. Then, she herself migrated into the body of a doll (voiced by Tilly), and proved to be just as deadly as Chucky. The two killer dolls married and Tiffany became pregnant, but tragically their baby outlived them …until now.
The Direct Approach
When the Child Play series was being revived, reconceived, and retitled with Bride of Chucky, from producer David Kirschner’s concept of a mate for the little maniac, screenwriter Don Mancini recalls, “With Tiffany as Chucky’s girlfriend – and, later, wife – we could show a whole other side of Chucky that had not been seen in the previous movies. I structured Bride in such a way that the relationship between Chucky and Tiffany went through all of the stages of a romance. They courted, they went on a date, they had sex, they got married, they fought, and they killed each other.”
On Bride, Kirschner’s producing partner Corey Sienega joined Team Chucky, and Mancini was afforded the opportunity to direct 2nd unit on the shoot. Kirschner remembers, “I also brought Don in to executive-produce, knowing that he had always wanted to direct. So I told him, ‘Live it, breathe it, and if we get to do [movie #] five, then you can direct.’”
A fifth movie in the hit series was certainly a likely prospect since, as returning star Jennifer Tilly sagely notes, “We know that in successful horror movie franchises the villains never actually die.”
Immersed in all day-to-day aspects of Bride, Mancini rose to every challenge. Kirschner, who had created the dolls’ designs and looks, states, “Don brought so much to that movie. He was part of literally every frame. As creator of the property, he has a strong understanding of the Chucky character’s mythology and a complete passion for the project. So when we were ready to make Seed of Chucky, it was clear that Don would be not only the writer but also the director.”
Mancini reflects, “David has produced all of the Chucky movies. He allowed me to be around on the sets of them all, where I soaked up a lot of experience. It’s something that most writers in Hollywood rarely get the chance to do, and I learned a lot.”
Sienega says, “Nobody knows Chucky better than Don, so he was not just the natural choice to direct Seed of Chucky – he was the only choice. David was planning this. He has believed in Don’s talent for many years; they have a lot in common as far as their fascination with movies, especially genre and horror movies. The three of us are bonded by a sick love for Chucky.”
For the love of Chucky, the series had to evolve in order to continue. Mancini points out, “With Bride of Chucky, we changed the tone. The first three were fairly straightforward horror movies. Previous movies and TV shows had featured the ‘killer doll’ concept, but no one had ever treated the doll as a full-fledged character with dialogue scenes. For a fourth movie, in order to ensure the longevity of the series, we had to reinvent.”
Sienega adds, “It was a big, and conscious, decision we made on Bride of Chucky to embrace the humor. The fans know where the series has been so far, and by combining more humor with horror, we keep everyone a little off-balance. It’s helpful to leave a few years in-between the movies to keep an element of surprise, and with Seed of Chucky we wanted to take everything much further. We intend to deliver what the true fans want, while also expanding our audience to include people who know Chucky as an icon but maybe haven’t seen the previous movies. I think the style of the humor in Seed makes for a movie that will appeal to a wider audience as well as the longtime Chucky fans.”
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Redman (left), Jennifer Tilly (center) and Tiffany (right) in Seed of Chucky.