The Child's Play remake is getting ready to make its debut and while it has a lot going for it, like Mark Hamill's voice bringing Chuckie to life this time around, is that going to be enough to make the new movie a massive hit? While numbers are still early, the new Child's Play is currently tracking for an opening weekend somewhere between $12 and $22 million.
While a number as low as $12 million doesn't necessarily sound like a lot of money, especially for a summer release, Child's Play isn't going to be the most expensive movie ever made and and so it doesn't actually need to make a lot to be a success.
Having said that, part of the reason the movie might find it difficult to have a strong opening weekend is that it's opening against a major tentpole release, Pixar's Toy Story 4.
Certainly, putting a horror movie up against a Pixar release was an intentional bit of counter programming to try and grab those movie goers who don't care so much for the family film, but Pixar is so broadly popular that it's going to attract a massive audience, even many of the people who might otherwise be interested in a horror movie.
The other problem facing Child's Play, as Box Office Pro points out, is that another horror movie, Annabelle Comes Home, opens a week after Child's Play, and with that movie being part of the popular Conjuring franchise, it's possible horror fans might be tempted to wait and check out the new film rather than go in for the remake.
The Annabelle release certainly does give the impression that Child's Play will have a hard time making money in the weeks following release. With another horror franchise to compete with directly, box office dollars could get split between them, resulting in neither film being strong hits. Those that grew up with the original Child's Play franchise might be inclined to check out the remake while younger viewers might go in for the Conjuring movie.
There is one final reason why the new Child's Play might have issues and that's because many of those involved in the original franchise aren't on board with the new movie. Actress Jennifer Tilly has made it clear she doesn't love the idea and franchise creator Don Mancini, who isn't involved in the new film is also not pleased. He's been working on a new Child's Play TV series which has nothing to do with the new movie.
The reboot likely needs the franchise fans in order to succeed, but if large numbers of them stay away because they don't like the idea of the series being rebooted in the first place, the film could be in serious trouble.
The new Child's Play arrives in theaters June 21.
