The Child's Play franchise has made some interesting and unique choices throughout its tenure as a slasher franchise, but Seed of Chucky was originally panned by Universal executives for some very specific reasons.
Don Mancini, the creator of the Child's Play franchise, stepped into the director's chair for the first time and lent his talents to writing the script as well. Seed of Chucky was intended as a direct follow-up to 1998's Bride of Chucky, which is where the franchise started to shift tonally into more horror-comedy with the inclusion of Jennifer Tilly as Tiffany, Chucky's paramour and - eventually - his bride. While many fans praise Bride of Chucky for adding something new to the franchise after the third installment started to feel stale and weak in comparison to the first two installments, people were quick to dismiss Seed of Chucky because of its unapologetically queer attitude, transgender child character, and meta humor in spades.
However, as it was for some fans who didn't fully understand - or like - Mancini's direction for the slasher franchise and his vision for the fifth movie, studio executives gave equally harsh criticisms of Mancini's script.
Seed Of Chucky's Script Was Panned By Studio Executives
According to Don Mancini, his decision to make the switch toward a more comedic route was purely intentional. In an interview with New York magazine, Mancini discussed how slasher franchises - on the whole - lose their ability to constantly terrify over time because they become formulaic, the killers themselves become predictable, and there has to be something different to keep a franchise alive. Plus, Chucky was already at a distinct disadvantage over killers like Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees. Said Mancini, "With Chucky, it’s particularly true because, well, he’s a doll. It’s already absurd. But that distance allows you to experiment".
Mancini's script was originally passed down with some very specific notes, including that it was "too gay." Mancini - who is an openly gay man - has used his background and voice in the community to make the franchise accessible and relatable for his LGBTQ fans throughout the series. Said Mancini, "...it’s fun to get that kind of material into a mainstream movie in a subversive way. You know, I see so many gay-themed movies suffocated by their good intentions". For him, Seed of Chucky was the answer to the question: "what if Chucky had a gay kid?" Glen/Glenda was a well-meaning, sweet, innocent person who happened to have killers for parents, and at the end of the day, all they wanted was to be accepted. Mancini's decision to paint Glen/Glenda's journey of self-discovery in a bawdy, meta horror-comedy is part of the reason why some LGBTQ horror fans love it so much.
Jennifer Tilly also spoke out about the script being passed on and rejected by Universal in an interview with the Dallas Voice. Said Tilly, "Actually, Universal said, ‘It’s too funny, it’s too gay, and there’s too much Jennifer Tilly.’ How could there ever be too much Jennifer Tilly?". It's clear that, while studio executives may have had their own vision for the film, Mancini won out because the film was loud and proud about its queer identity, was soaked in meta humor, and featured lots of Jennifer Tilly. As it stands, Seed of Chucky ended up being distributed by Rogue Pictures, and Universal eventually picked the Child's Play franchise back up for Mancini's next two movies, and his TV series.