Chucky Full Movie Season 1

[Prospero Barela]

Chuckyis an American horror comedy television series created by Don Mancini and is the eighth main installment[2][3] of the Child's Play franchise. It serves as a sequel to Cult of Chucky, the seventh film in the franchise, and stars Brad Dourif reprising his role as the voice of the title character, alongside Zackary Arthur, Bjrgvin Arnarson, Alyvia Alyn Lind, Teo Briones, and Devon Sawa.[4] The cast also includes Fiona Dourif, Alex Vincent, Christine Elise, Jennifer Tilly, and Billy Boyd reprising their roles from previous films.[5]

Developed for Syfy and USA Network, the series follows Chucky as he commits a series of mysterious murders in Hackensack, New Jersey. Series creator Mancini and producer David Kirschner both serve as executive producers for the series, alongside Nick Antosca, Alex Hedlund and Jeff Renfroe. The series premiered simultaneously on Syfy and the USA Network on October 12, 2021.[6][7][8] It has received generally positive reviews from critics. In November 2021, the series was renewed for a second season,[9] which premiered on October 5, 2022. In January 2023, the series was renewed for a third season,[10] which premiered on October 4, 2023, and was aired in two parts, with the second half premiering on April 10, 2024.[11][12]

In the city of Hackensack, New Jersey, 14-year-old Jake Wheeler buys a Good Guy doll at a yard sale to use it in his contemporary art project during the Halloween season. He later discovers that the doll is possessed by the soul of serial killer Charles Lee Ray, known as Chucky. Jake soon becomes a suspect in a series of strange events involving the doll, who unleashes a wave of shocking murders around the town. Some of the boy's classmates will also see themselves linked to these events.[4][13] In addition, a series of flashbacks explore Charles's past as a seemingly normal kid who somehow became one of Hackensack's most notorious killers.[6][14]

Starring mostly teenagers and advertised as a "coming of rage" story,[15] the series tackles themes of sexuality, bullying, domestic life, and murder.[16][17][18] The main character, Jake Wheeler, finds himself prompted to homicidal acts by the doll while also struggling with his crush on classmate Devon and other issues that arise from being gay in unaccepting environments.[18]

On January 29, 2019, it was reported that a television series based on the Child's Play franchise was in development on Syfy, with Don Mancini serving as the creator and showrunner. Mancini was also expected to serve as executive producer alongside David Kirschner, Harley Peyton, and Nick Antosca.[6][37] On January 11, 2020, during NBCUniversal's presentation at the TCA Winter Press Tour in Pasadena, California, it was announced that Syfy had given the production a straight-to-series order, in a deal with Universal Content Productions.[6][38] While working on the show, Mancini was concerned about the potential impact the 2019 Child's Play reboot could have had in the franchise, speculating that, had it been a success, Universal Pictures could have decided to abandon the original film's continuity. However, the reboot film (made without Mancini's approval) did not affect the TV show, and a sequel has not been produced.[39][40]

Mancini, who began working for television on the Hannibal series, wanted to "reinvent" the Chucky franchise by bringing it to this format, and subsequently expand its fandom.[41] He took a somewhat autobiographical approach to Jake's character, a gay teenager whose father is not accepting of the boy's "burgeoning sexual and romantic identity".[42] The director cites this conflict as referential to his own adolescence.[43] The show is a direct sequel to Cult of Chucky (2017), where the cliffhanger ending puts the titular character "on the road to a sexual exploration" after he transfers his soul to a female body.[16] As an innovation for the character, Chucky is also used as a metaphor of the real life bully, guising himself to be "charming [and] funny" and manipulating people, labelled by Mancini as "the ultimate bully".[17][44] By making him close to Jake, whose struggles are related to those of the LGBT community,[17] the series also acknowledges that "Chucky himself has a queer kid" (Glen/Glenda, from Seed of Chucky).[42][43] According to Decider's Jon O'Brien, "queer characters have been a Child's Play mainstay ever since Bride of Chucky's ill-fated David (Gordon Michael Woolvett) back in 1998", but this series marks the first time they have such a prominent presence.[45] However, Mancini stated that Chucky "is just a psychopath" and "will kill anybody", despite posing as Jake's ally.[46]

Mancini wrote all eight episodes of the first season along with a team of writers, and directed the first episode.[47] For Chucky, he was allowed to use the word "fuck" a maximum of ten times per episode, since he considers it an elemental aspect of the character.[48] With eight hours to explore different sides of the story, Mancini saw the opportunity to elucidate the killer's past and answer questions that fans had been asking, like who his first victim was and how he met his bride Tiffany.[14] Regarding the concept of multiple Chuckys, he explained that there are different versions of the character rather than a collective mind, something that also had its origin in Cult of Chucky.[49]

On November 29, 2021, USA Network and Syfy renewed the series for a second season.[9] Mancini began working on the first script in December and told Gizmodo that "a lot of the characters that fans love" might reappear in the second season.[50] This was further commented by Jennifer Tilly, who foresaw the return of Glen/Glenda.[51] Despite being disappointed by the initial reception of Seed of Chucky, Mancini was glad that this character was later embraced by queer fans of the franchise, which motivated him to expand their story in season two.[52] Also inspired by Catholic-based horror films like The Exorcist and The Omen, he set the second season on a Catholic reform school, thinking that it would be troublesome for Jake and Devon's relationship to keep unfolding in an environment that is not "exactly down with the gays".[52] This also draws from Mancini's youth, since he grew up under the beliefs of the Catholic Church.[52] He also stated that, at this point, making the show had become "cathartic", and that he began to exploit "specific actors' strengths and interests" with his writing (for example, Bjrgvin Arnarson's comedic side).[52] The season also marks the reintroduction of the "Wedding Belle" doll, an item from Bride of Chucky that Mancini had been planning to reuse "for quite a while".[53]

On January 15, 2023, USA Network and Syfy renewed the series for a third season, which was set for release in the fourth quarter of 2023,[54] and filming began on April 27 of that year.[55] The season explores the idea of ghosts haunting the White House, something that had fascinated Mancini for a long time. He thought having Chucky in the "most secure house in the world" could worsen the protagonists' struggle to kill him.[56] In an interview with Screen Rant, he admitted that the series' lore about voodoo and Damballa (something he did not come up with, but has been an integral part of the franchise since the first film) was taken jokingly when writing previous installments, but this time seemed to expand the supernatural mythology thats surrounds Chucky, who Mancini described as "essentially" a ghost or spirit animating an object.[56] He added: "It's interesting to put Chucky into a situation where there are other entities hovering about who might have their own agendas and their own goals."[56]

The first teaser for the show, released on July 15, 2020, revealed that Brad Dourif would again provide the voice of Chucky.[57] He initially recorded his dialogues at home, working remotely with Don Mancini.[58] Between March and April of the following year, many other actors already linked to the franchise were confirmed to have recurring roles, including Jennifer Tilly as Tiffany Valentine, Alex Vincent as Andy Barclay, Christine Elise as Kyle, and Fiona Dourif as Nica Pierce.[7][59][60] Fiona also plays an adult version of Charles Lee Ray, but her voice was replaced with Brad's in post-production.[61] A reason for this was that Nica sounded too similar when possessed by Charles, which would have been "confusing" for the audience.[61] All these actors renewed their contract for the second season between April and May 2022.[62][63]

Devon Sawa was cast to play the roles of twins Lucas and Logan Wheeler,[64] while Barbara Alyn Woods and Lexa Doig took the roles of Michelle Cross and Bree Wheeler, respectively.[65][66] Four teenage actors star in the series: Zackary Arthur as Jake, Teo Briones as Junior, Alyvia Alyn Lind as Lexy, and Bjrgvin Arnarson as Devon.[59] Arthur, whose parents did not let him watch R-rated movies as a kid, had his first introduction to the saga in preparation for his role.[67] Arnarson told Screen Rant that, near the end of shooting, Mancini told him that he wished he had written a slightly different version of his character, and maybe make him interested in stand-up comedy.[68] In regards to Lexy, who evolves from the "classic mean girl" to someone who cares about others, Alyn Lind stated: "I just really wanted to make sure that she knew exactly what she wanted at all times [...] I wanted to make that switch very clear."[68] In the second season they are joined by Bella Higginbotham, who described her character Nadine as "a light" in the Chucky franchise.[69]

Woods reprises her role as Michelle in the second season,[62] while Sawa returns as a new character, Father Bryce, the headmaster at the Catholic School of the Incarnate Lord.[70] In June 2022, Lachlan Watson was cast as Glen and Glenda Ray, Chucky's twin children from Seed of Chucky.[71] Mancini cast Watson in the dual role after meeting them during a virtual San Diego Comic-Con 2019 panel about transgender representation, when Watson was speaking about their trans character in Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Expressing his desire to work with them and following conversations they had about Chucky led Mancini to see "what Glen and Glenda represent for him" in Watson.[72] Gina Gershon, Joe Pantoliano, Sutton Stracke and Meg Tilly make guest appearances;[73] they play themselves as part of Jennifer Tilly's inner circle in the episode "Death on Denial".[74] WWE wrestler Liv Morgan also appears in said episode; she had declared herself a lifelong Child's Play fan and was added to the script by Don Mancini per her request.[75]

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