Here’s what David Kirschner had to say about the remake, which was initially Universal’s idea.
“Actually, it was Universal. In our discussions of Don and my producing partner, we thought we would go on to the next film, but Universal said to us that they would love to be able to remake the first. I think all of us looked at each other and said, ‘We just don’t want to make a frame-for-frame exactly the same picture.’ That’s when Don went away and began to work and when Don began to lay out where he was going. I don’t want to give away too much. I’ve known Don for 22 years. We’re dear friends. I know his humor, I know his mind. I was so shocked with where he was taking us with expectations of the first film and pulling the rug out from under us. It was exciting and really frightening and exhilarating to hear, as opposed to just shooting a frame-for-frame, but really subverting audiences expectations.”
The original Child’s Play was produced on a budget of $9,000,000 but opened at #1 with $6,583,963. The film went on to gross $33,244,684 at the domestic box office and an additional $10,952,000 overseas for a worldwide total of $44,196,684.
Critical reviews were generally positive even though on the initial release, a large crowd of protesters formed at the main entrance of MGM calling for a ban on the film because, they claimed, it would incite violence in children.
Rebooting Child’s Play isn’t such a bad idea from a financial point of view since the film developed a cult following among fans of the horror genre, and went on to spawn four sequels, including the completely over-looked and incredibly entertaining Bride of Chucky. If you haven’t seen it, you should.