Despite the recent announcement of a Child's Play TV series, MGM is reportedly developing a remake of the original 1988 film, with high tech Chucky. The horror genre is full of franchises that have ended up demonstrating staying power far beyond what anyone could have realistically expected. One particularly surprising example is the Children of the Corn series, which has so far stretched Stephen King's short story into a full 10 films. Right up there though is the Child's Play franchise, which has produced seven films starring the charismatic but dangerously murderous doll Chucky.

Just last year saw the release of Child's Play's latest installment, Cult of Chucky. Receiving mostly rave reviews from the horror community, Cult - much like its similarly acclaimed 2013 predecessor Curse of Chucky - proved that a horror series doesn't necessarily have to get worse as it gets farther and farther from its inception. Cult was so well-received in fact that franchise creator Don Mancini is developing a TV continuation of its story, with the series recently getting its first official logo.

Yet, despite the ongoing popularity of the recent Chucky sequels, Collider reports that MGM is currently developing a remake of Child's Play, which would indeed ignore the prior films and seek to reinvent the property. While MGM hasn't officially commented on the report, Collider also says that the remake will be set in modern-day, and revolve around a group of kids in a manner similar to the Netflix hit Stranger Things. Additionally, said group will be menaced by a new, technologically advanced killer doll. At this point, it's unclear if the doll will be named Chucky, although that is said to be the likely outcome, one would assume for branding reasons.

Chucky wields a giant pair of scissors in Child's Play 2

It's important to note though that even if a Child's Play remake - reportedly set to be directed by Polaroid helmer Lars Klevberg, from a script by Tyler Burton Smith (Kung Fury) - is indeed coming, that doesn't necessarily mean that Mancini's Child's Play TV series won't happen. Like many horror franchises, the rights to Child's Play are a bit complex. MGM owns the rights to the original film, while Universal produced and owns the rights to the sequels. It's quite possible that MGM is within its rights to remake the original, while Universal is within its rights to continue producing separate Chucky sequels and Mancini's TV series.

The potential remake - slated to be produced by IT's David Katzenberg and Seth Grahame-Smith - is said to be planning a September production start, in Vancouver. Interestingly, there is no confirmation either way whether or not Brad Dourif - who's been providing Chucky's signature voice for nearly 30 years - has been approached about returning for the remake. Considering that MGM seems to be intent on almost completely revamping the story and characters though, it would not at all be surprising to see the Chucky role be recast.

More: Child's Play's Chucky Is Our Friend Till The End

Source: Collider