'Child's Play' Trailer: Are You Ready For The New Chucky?

Well, we all knew this day was coming, and now it's here. Our first real look at the Child's Play remake has arrived, showing off the new direction MGM is taking with Chucky. No longer a serial-killer possessed plastic toy, this Chucky is new and improved, with high-tech upgrades. Don't worry, though – he'll still kill you. Watch the Child's Play trailer below.

The original Child's Play franchise is still going, with Cult of Chucky released in 2017, and an upcoming TV show in the works as well. That particular franchise remains in the hands of Chucky's original creator, writer-director Don Mancini. But there's a catch! MGM owns the rights to the first Child's Play movie, which means they can do whatever the hell they want with it. Like remake it – something Mancini isn't very happy about. MGM approached Mancini and franchise producer David Kirschner with an offer to be credited as executive producers – without having any real input into the film. Mancini and Kirschner weren't having it.

"We said no thank you, because we have our ongoing thriving business with Chucky," Mancini said. "Obviously my feelings were hurt...And I did create the character and nurture the franchise for three fucking decades...So when someone says, Oh yeah, we would love to have your name on the film... it was hard not to feel like I was being patronized. They just wanted our approval. Which I strenuously denied them."

With all of this in mind, I remain somewhat hostile towards this remake. I'm not anti-remake by any means. I just have a strong affinity for the original series, and there's really no need to remake it when it's still on-going. But what do I know – I'm some lowly writer on the internet, while the bigwigs at MGM are lighting their cigars with $100 bills right now, or so cartoons have lead me to believe.

All that said, I love that this movie features both Aubrey Plaza and Brian Tyree Henry. I've been a fan of Plaza's ever since Parks and Recreation, and I'm interested to see her outside of her usual comedic work. And Henry has quickly become one of those actors who is great in everything. His short but memorable part in If Beale Street Could Talk still blows me away, no matter how many times I see it. And if I'm being honest, I'll say that I don't hate this trailer. Of course, it's a teaser, so it's too early to form a full opinion. But I like the overall look of the footage here, and I like that the brief glimpses we get of Chucky – mostly in shadows – confirm that he's some sort of physical prop instead of a shitty looking CGI creation.

In Child's Play, Plaza plays a mother who "gives her son a toy doll for his birthday, unaware of its more sinister nature." That doll is, of course, Chucky. But unlike in the original film, in which Chucky was possessed by a serial killer, this killer doll features artificial intelligence run wild. So I guess it's kind of like Westworld, but with Chucky instead of Evan Rachel Wood.

Child's Play opens June 21, 2019.