The 'Child's Play' TV Series Is Officially Moving Forward At Syfy, Original Creators On Board To Write And Produce

Nearly a year ago, we heard the first rumblings of a Child's Play television series that would bring Chucky the killer doll to the small screen. Now, it's official: Syfy has announced that it is developing a TV continuation of the long-running horror franchise, with the writer and producer behind every film in the series on board.

So consider this a shot across the bow of the upcoming big screen remake that fans really, really, really do not want.

The news was announced (via IndieWire) alongside a few other new Syfy shows, including the Lorne Michaels-produced (Future) Cult Classic and the video game-inspired action series Cipher. However, Chucky heading to television is clearly the big news here. Don Mancini, who has written or co-written every entry in the Child's Play series and directed the last three films, is spearheading the whole thing. Here's what he had to say in the press release:

"The show will be a fresh take on the franchise, allowing us to explore Chucky's character with a depth that is uniquely afforded by the television series format, while staying true to the original vision that has terrorized audiences for over three decades now."

David Kirschner, who has served as a producer on every film in the series, is also on board. Nick Antosca, the Syfy veteran who ran the late, great horror series Channel Zero will be an executive producer as well, a collaboration first teased nearly a year ago when this show was first revealed. It's hard to imagine a line-up of talent that would please Chucky fans more.

So, what would the Child's Play TV show be about? That, we don't know. However, Mancini has said in the past that it would be a direct sequel to 2017's Cult of Chucky, which shook up the series mythology in some pretty major ways. Last October, he teased:

"We deliberately ended Cult with a bunch of cliffhangers to set up a TV series. Because there are so many different threads now, television could best accommodate that so that was done intentionally. At the same time, we have a whole new world, a bunch of new characters which we can say nothing about."

This show is moving forward as we get closer to the June 21, 2019 release date of the Child's Play remake, which looks to keep the core concept of the series (a killer doll) while ditching the supernatural elements and black comedy that define much of the films. The remake will be the first Child's Play movie to not involve Mancini or Kirschner, and the former has not been shy about sharing his disapproval.

So while that remake trucks ahead, the ongoing Child's Play mythology that has has spanned 31 years and and seven movies will live on in television form. And since Syfy hasn't been shy about letting its shows push the envelope, we can expect this to be very much in line with the films: bloody, scary, and darkly funny.

It's still early days for all of this, but I imagine we'll be hearing more about this one very soon.