Child’s Play creator says "Chucky Goes to Space" would be a fun movie. The killer doll Chucky first terrorized horror fans in the Don Mancini-written 1988 thriller directed by Tom Holland and featuring the vocal talents of Brad Dourif.
Little did Mancini or anyone else know it at the time but the serial-killer-possessed doll Chucky was soon to become an iconic horror character. The first few Child’s Play sequels were of course rather routine, but Mancini later threw caution to the wind and began making truly outrageous Chucky movies. 1999’s Bride of Chucky gave the doll a wife and partner in murder, played memorably by Jennifer Tilly, while 2004’s Seed of Chucky gave him a child. 2017’s Cult of Chucky then saw the doll splitting his soul into multiple bodies to create a cult. In 2019 the original Child’s Play received a reboot, but Mancini himself had no involvement, and indeed he’s expressed displeasure with the movie. Now Mancini is back in charge of Chucky for a USA/Syfy TV show that brings back a more classic iteration of the character, with original voice actor Dourif returning along with more actors from past Chucky films.
What’s next for Chucky after his new TV show is anyone’s guess. But Mancini recently gave his endorsement to one idea that on the surface sounds truly outrageous – sending Chucky to space. He told ComicBook.com:
"I don't think I've ever come up with like, 'Oh, Chucky couldn't possibly go there.' I don't think so. And I think one of the great things about Chucky is that he's such a versatile character and we've found that he operates successfully in all kinds of different tones and sub genres, whether it's horror, or comedy, places in-between. So I think as a character he's versatile enough and appealing enough and interesting enough that he could probably go anywhere, even into outer space. Which is the one thing I think once I jokingly said something about sending Chucky into space, although I do think it would be a fun movie."
Chucky may indeed be a versatile enough character to work in just about any environment including outer space. However, Mancini himself admitted that it's a bit of a red flag any time a franchise pulls the “goes to space” routine. “I mean, I think 'X Goes to Space' is usually a barometer for jumping the shark,” he said. But he added, “Who wouldn't want to see Chucky in a little space suit with a helmet, sort of like floating?"
Indeed there is precedent for a famed horror character heading into space. In 2001, slasher villain Jason Voorhees explored the final frontier after being cryogenically frozen for centuries in the Friday the 13th entry Jason X. Unfortunately that particular film is often cited as an example of why it’s a terrible and desperate idea to send characters to space. But possibly the greatest example of why this particular move is a red flag remains the James Bond film Moonraker, whose "007 in space" plot seemed like a sad attempt to piggy-back on the success of Star Wars. In more recent times, the Fast and Furious entry F9 sent a pair of characters into space in a rocket car, though fans barely batted an eye at the sequence given the long-established ridiculousness of that particular series.
The Chucky franchise much like Fast and Furious has in fact already gone in enough absurd directions by now that fans might readily accept seeing the Child’s Play doll in space. Indeed, it would be easy enough to explain Chucky going to space, as the toy could easily be taken on board a rocket mission only to end up wreaking havoc in orbit. And it just happens that there’s real-life precedent for dolls going on space missions, as a SpaceX crew back in 2020 took a Baby Yoda toy with them to the ISS. At the end of the day, a Child’s Play movie set in space might actually make more sense than most such crazy sequel ideas.
Source: ComicBook.com