CHUCKY TV SHOW SLASHING ONTO SYFY ALONG WITH TWO OTHER GENRE PILOTS

Chucky is getting a big screen reboot this year from director Lars Klevberg, but he'll also get new life on the small screen. SYFY has placed an order for a Chucky TV show from the character's original creator, Don Mancini, SYFY WIRE has confirmed. He will also serve as writer and executive producer.

"I've long wanted to bring Chucky to television and SYFY is the perfect network for us," said Mancini in an official statement. "The show will be a fresh take on the franchise, allowing us to explore Chucky's character with a depth that is uniquely afforded by the television series format, while staying true to the original vision that has terrorized audiences for over three decades now."

Chucky, or more accurately, Charles Lee Ray, offered his own statement:

"In these troubled times, I believe it's my obligation as a horror icon to reach the widest possible audience, on TV. For over thirty years, I've been scaring the sh*t out of you. But now at SYFY, I look forward to really making a difference."

Joining Mancini as EPs are David Kirschner (Hocus Pocus) and Nick Antosca (The Act).

"I worked with Don on Hannibal and on Channel Zero for SYFY, so developing Chucky with UCP really feels like coming home," said Nick Antosca. "SYFY is the perfect place to tell the next chapter in the Chucky saga and having the original creative team lead the project will help elevate the story we are excited to tell."

SYFY also ordered pilot episodes of the video game-centric Cipher and the Lorne Michaels-produced comedy (Future) Cult Classic.

Cipher follows a 13-year-old gamer who has top secret military technology implanted into his brain. "The boy and his father unwittingly find themselves at the center of the next great war - over artificial intelligence," reads the release's description of the central premise.

Allison Miller (Strange Angel) is writing and executive produce alongside Danny McBride, David Gordon Green, Jody Hill, and Brandon James. Peter Hoar (director of the The Umbrella Academy pilot for Netflix) is locked in to direct the first episode.

Produced by SNL creator, Lorne Michaels, (Future) Cult Classic, is a dark comedy set 18 years in the future. The series will follow a group of teens living in a community terrorized by a killer obsessed with '90s slasher flicks. The teens begin to track the murderer when they discover that they are being targeted.

Shay Hatten (Ballerina) is writing with Tim Kirby (Veep) executive producing and directing.

"Cipher and (Future) Cult Classic are genre-bending stories with gripping scripts and talented creatives attached," said Bill McGoldrick, President, Scripted Content, NBCU Cable Entertainment. "Both are very unique projects that we are excited to pilot as we look towards the future of SYFY."

https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/chucky-tv-show-slashing-onto-syfy-along-with-two-other-genre-pilots