Charlie Says Trailer Debuts Matt Smith's Charles Manson

Charlie Says Trailer Debuts Matt Smith's Charles Manson

Is Matt Smith in Star Wars: Episode IX or isn’t he? I suppose we’ll have to wait until that film’s first trailer or its December release to know for sure, but in the meantime, the former Doctor Who star will definitely be showing up in Charlie Says, where he plays someone who unquestionably belongs to the dark side. Take a look below to see the trailer for Charlie Says and see the debut of Matt Smith’s Charles Manson.

Charles Manson doesn’t show up for almost a minute into this trailer, but his presence is felt from the start as we see some of what befell those who followed him into the darkness. When Matt Smith appears as the cult leader, he really looks the part: bearded, longhaired and charming, and along with Hannah Murray’s Leslie Van Houten, we see the appeal of what he’s selling and how he roped people in.

The kumbaya lovefest he is pitching bears quite the resemblance to Chris Hemsworth's character in Bad Times at the El Royale, so you can see from whom that film took its inspiration. That lovefest turns as the things Manson is saying begin to have seriously dark connotations. When Grace Van Dien’s Sharon Tate opens the door and Charles Manson is just standing there, Matt Smith, more known for his roles as good guys, gives off some seriously creepy vibes.

Matt Smith has a magnetic presence and that is crucial to this film that will explore both how Charles Manson convinced people to kill for him in the first place and the powerful hold he had on these women long after they were sent to prison for their crimes. He can’t just be a crazy creep, we have to be drawn in by the actor’s portrayal and see how he appealed to his followers and they wanted to believe in him.

The book The Long Prison Journey of Leslie van Houten: Life Beyond the Cult, written by Karlene Faith (here played by The Walking Dead’s Meritt Wever, serves as inspiration for Charlie Says. That gives this film an interesting perspective as it looks at these women who committed horrible crimes as victims themselves, who made excuses and rationalized their behavior as a result of Charles Manson’s manipulation and their loyalty to him.

We see that in this trailer, especially with Sosie Bacon's Patricia Krenwinkel clinging to something that captivated her not wanting to take responsibility or acknowledge the truth. Also, Hannah Murray looks to be giving quite the performance as Leslie Van Houten as she come to grips with the truth of what she did and who Charles Manson was years later.

Charlie Says comes from director Mary Harron who created one of the staples of the serial killer genre in American Psycho. Most recently Harron directed episodes of Netflix’s Alias Grace.

Since 2019 marks the 50th anniversary of the Manson murders, Charlie Says is just one of the cinematic looks at the notorious crimes that both puzzle and fascinate to this day. Actress Hilary Duff stars in The Haunting of Sharon Tate, due out April 5, and the second season of Netflix’s Mindhunter will also feature Charles Manson. In an interesting twist, the actor starring as the cult leader in Mindhunter, Damon Herriman, will also play Manson in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

Charlie Says arrives in theaters on May 10 and on VOD a week later on May 17. Check out our 2019 release schedule to keep track of all the biggest movies headed your way this year.

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Samuel L. Jackson Confirms Sequel The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard Is Finally In Production

Samuel L. Jackson Confirms Sequel The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard Is Finally In Production

We’re only two films in to Samuel L. Jackson’s especially stacked 2019 and the prolific actor is already hard at work making sure he’ll be lighting up the silver screen for years to come. In 2020, the actor will star in The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard, the sequel to the 2017 action-comedy The Hitman’s Bodyguard, which starred Samuel L. Jackson and Ryan Reynolds. Now, the busy actor has confirmed The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard is finally in production. Take a look:

This image confirms The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard is now in production and shooting in Croatia, the European country where Game of Thrones spent so much time and that also served as Canto Bight in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. It may technically be work, but as you can see from Samuel L. Jackson’s Instagram photos, the picturesque country on the Adriatic Sea is lovely and definitely not a bad place to be filming a fun action movie.

Croatia won’t be the only place The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard shoots though. The sequel will also be filming in London and Italy, giving the action sequel even more international, European flavor after the first film shot in London, The Netherlands and Bulgaria. Ryan Reynolds’ Michael Bryce and Samuel L. Jackson’s Darius Kincaid won’t just be sightseeing or going on a vacation in Europe, they’ll actually be trying to save it.

The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard will find Michael Bryce attempting to live a peaceful life after the events in the last film where notorious hitman Darius Kincaid and his wife, Salma Hayek’s Sonia, drag him in to their mission to cause chaos on Italy’s Amalfi Coast that is somehow meant to help save Europe. Needless to say, Ryan Reynolds’ character will once again find himself with a difficult job and even more difficult clients.

The first Hitman’s Bodyguard earned $176.6 million worldwide back in 2017, sitting atop the domestic box office for three straight weeks from August to early September. On a modest $30 million budget, that made it a big enough of a hit to warrant a sequel, a sequel that looks to be upping the ante by putting together an impressive cast.

In addition to the delightful returning cast of Samuel L. Jackson, Ryan Reynolds, Salma Hayek and Richard E. Grant, The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard will also star Antonio Banderas, Frank Grillo and, in his first ever film with Samuel L. Jackson, Morgan Freeman. The sequel also recently added Tom Hopper, who you may know from Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy, Starz’ Black Sails or as the riotously named Dickon Tarly in Game of Thrones.

The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard is expected to arrive in theaters in 2020. There’s plenty to see before then though and you can check it all out in our 2019 release schedule. Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for all the latest movie news.

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7 Period Movies Marvel Should Make In The Future

7 Period Movies Marvel Should Make In The Future

As long as the Marvel Cinematic Universe continues to exist it will consistently produce contemporary stories – but it’s been shown that the occasional period piece can be a real treat for audiences. We’ve only really seen a couple of examples from the franchise so far, including Joe Johnston’s Captain America: The First Avenger and Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck’s Captain Marvel, but there are few that would disagree that the details in the settings and aesthetics of those features set them apart from the 20-plus other offerings from Marvel Studios.

Obviously period storytelling presents some specific challenges for a continuity-centric franchise, as filmmakers have to create explanations for keeping characters around for decades, and reasons why audiences haven’t previously heard about the adventures. All the same, they present flavorful stylistic opportunities that can be incredibly fun to explore. This in mind, we’ve taken a trip back through history (skipping the already-done 1940s and 1990s), and formulated ideas for potential new Marvel big screen stories – starting with the decade that everything started with Timely Comics…

1930s – Namor The Submariner

One could make the argument that Marvel Comics was built on the backs of three heroes: Captain America, Human Torch (the android, not Johnny Storm), and Namor The Submariner. They were among the first heroes introduced in the aforementioned Timely Comics, and their pages helped shape the superhero world as we know it. The first two have appeared in the MCU – the former as a primary hero, the latter as an Easter egg in Captain America: The First Avenger – but, sadly, certain rights complications have prevented us from seeing a big screen version of Namor. Right now we don’t know what the future will hold for the character, but if it were up to us, we would get to see a movie featuring him in the decade he was created: the 1930s.

The DC Extended Universe has already beaten the Marvel Cinematic Universe to the punch when it comes to undersea adventure, as Aquaman is the biggest hit the brand has ever released, but that doesn’t mean a Namor The Submariner movie couldn’t still work. Not only does there still exist plenty of material for land vs. sea conflict, but the early origin could set up the Atlantian King/hero/anti-hero/villain for appearances in some other potential period stories (especially what we have in mind for the 1960s).

1950s – Man-Thing

Superheroes have been a staple of comic books for decades, but during the 20th century there was a lull in their popularity, and one particular genre simultaneously hit its stride. That period was during the late-1940s and early-1950s and the genre was horror. Marvel’s predecessor, Atlas Comics, was deep into this game, scaring audiences with monsters in the pages of Amazing Mysteries and Marvel Tales – and it’s in recognition of this history that the Marvel Cinematic Universe could make an excellent Man-Thing feature.

Not to be confused with DC Comics’ Swamp Thing (which was introduced around the same time), Man-Thing is a creature that lives in the Florida Everglades – formerly a scientist forced to dose himself with his own secret serum while being pursued by terrorists. This could be a very different kind of film for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, specifically an opportunity to dig into a genre that has not yet been explored by the studio, and there is room to be heavily inspired by 1954’s Creature From The Black Lagoon.

1960s – The Fantastic Four

With 20th Century Fox being bought by the Walt Disney Corporation, Marvel Studios will soon have the ability to create their own version of the Fantastic Four, and redeem the big screen legacy of Marvel’s first family. In doing this, the company could certainly go the easy route and introduce them as a team of new heroes ready to join the fight against evil alongside the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy – but if they were to go the period piece route there could be some real fun to be had. (With a hat tip to Peyton Reed – who we very much hope someday gets to execute his vision.)

Like Namor and Captain America, this would be another case where the characters are introduced within the same decade they made their debut on the page, as the Fantastic Four made their debut in 1961. What would be wonderful about this version is not only the possibility of differentiating itself from the previous cinematic adaptations, but also exploring the beautifully weird 1960s sci-fi aesthetic, taking notes from classics like 2001: A Space Odyssey, Fantastic Voyage, and Planet Of The Apes. As for where the characters have been in the decades since, it’s very easy to believe that they went off on some kind of space exploration mission and never returned, got trapped in another dimension, or somehow got erased from existence because of a time travel incident.

1970s – Blade

Basically being half-vampire, Blade a.k.a. Eric Brooks ages at a much slower rate than most Marvel heroes, which makes him a perfect candidate for period storytelling. It’s very easy to establish that the guy has been hunting the undead for decades without having to recast or use advanced makeup/effects when he makes contemporary appearances. Add in the fact that he was created in 1973 by Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan to hunt Dracula, and you have a recipe for an awesome new Marvel Cinematic Universe film.

Like Man-Thing, this is another opportunity for the franchise to dip into the horror genre, and also distance itself from the version of the character we’ve already seen from a different continuity. Given the era, perhaps this version of Blade could have the affection of being like Shaft with vampire hunting – maybe even straight-up having him travel to Transylvania to hunt Dracula. In the hands of the right filmmaker that could be a blast.

1980s – The Astonishing Tales Of Ant-Man And The Wasp

This entry is a bit different than every other one in this feature as it centers on characters with whom we are already familiar. No, I’m not talking about Scott Lang and Hope van Dyne – I’m talking about Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne. Portrayed by Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer, we know from the previous Ant-Man movies that they were spies working together for S.H.I.E.L.D. during the Cold War, and a 1980s-set prequel film titled something along the lines of The Astonishing Tale Of Ant-Man And The Wasp could do exactly that.

One of the “drawbacks” of using established characters is that the project would have to make heavy use of the impressive de-aging technology that Marvel has been employing in recent years, but there’s every reason to be confident that it could be done. After all, not only is the digital work done on Samuel L. Jackson in Captain Marvel absolutely flawless, but we’ve already seen what magic can be done with both Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer in the previous two Ant-Man films.

2000s – She-Hulk

While the first Marvel Studios films were released in 2008 - Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk – technically we have not yet seen a 21st century aughts story in the MCU. Given the way things line up in the continuity, the former is set in 2010, while the latter unfolds in 2011. That on the table, however, a She-Hulk film set during the previous decade may still be possible. After all, fans will remember that the first Hulk story in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is not an origin story, and there is a period of four to five years that we don’t know much about in between Bruce Banner’s disastrous gamma experiment and where we first caught up with him. This is where Jennifer Walters’ tale could start.

It is possible that we could meet the future She-Hulk at some point this mystery time, with an accident leading her to get a blood transfusion from her on-the-run cousin, Bruce Banner. The result is that she experiences a different form of his Hulk condition – transforming into a powerful green giant, but keeping her personality and intelligence. Given the trouble Banner experiences as a fugitive, she tries to control her transformations and live a normal life… all while the age of heroes is just about ready to bloom.

2099 – Marvel 2099

Period pieces aren’t necessarily relegated to the past, and Marvel Comics has already provided the movies with an interesting roadmap towards looking at the distant future. Marvel 2099 was an imprint published throughout the 1990s that had writers and artists on a wide variety of books telling stories set approximately 100 years in the future. This included new versions of Spider-Man, the X-Men, Hulk, the Fantastic Four, and more, and all of them could possibly come together in a different kind of Marvel Cinematic Universe event feature.

There is enough existing Marvel 2099 source material that Marvel Studios could use for an entire Phase’s worth of features, but assuming that won’t happen it would be cool to use one massive blockbuster to let audiences peek into the highly advanced world. You could use time travel as an entry point into the story, with a contemporary character being hurtled into the distant year, but from there fans could be introduced to a completely different vision of the MCU that has been altered by all the events that have already been depicted.

What do you think of these ideas? Do you think they would work? Do you have ideas of your own? Hit the comments section below with your thoughts, and check out Captain Marvel in theaters this Friday, March 8th.

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Why Harry Potter Fans Are Now Mocking J.K. Rowling With X-Rated Tweets

Why Harry Potter Fans Are Now Mocking J.K. Rowling With X-Rated Tweets

The Harry Potter fandom has turned on Fantastic Beasts writer J.K. Rowling, however temporarily, after her latest comments on the sexual relationship between Dumbledore and Grindelwald. It doesn't seem to be a torches-and-pitchforks kind of backlash, more of an eyeroll "here she goes again" kind of frustration from fans tired of the author adding extra details on characters outside of the books and movies. Show don't tell, Jo!

Some of the fan tweets tried to make serious points on sexuality and inclusion, and actually practicing what you preach. Like this one:

But most of the tweets tried to make the same points about oversharing and pseudo-representation through jokes, often using the same format -- no one asking anything, followed by J.K. Rowling revealing something pornographic about a Harry Potter character. Like this:

J.K. Rowling was trending over the weekend as fans tried to outdo each other with sex-related jokes, mocking Rowling's habit of revealing new information about characters outside of the books and movies. Her latest comments mentioned a "sexual dimension" to the relationship between Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald when they were younger.

Some fans weren't happy because they want to keep sexuality out of the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts stories. But many more fans weren't happy on the opposite side -- because they see it as cheap for J.K. Rowling to keep adding details like this in interviews while never actually putting any real representation in the books or movies. If Dumbledore and Grindelwald had a sexual relationship, why keep talking about it now instead of adding it to the books or making it more clear in the current movie series?

So we get tweets like this:

And this:

It keeps going:

Some fans took the sexuality out of it and just mocked J.K. Rowling's continued changes to canon after finishing the Harry Potter book series:

Some fans did have J.K. Rowling's back, appreciating her latest comments on the sexual relationship between Grindelwald and Dumbledore:

It's too late for J.K. Rowling to write Dumbledore's sexuality into the Harry Potter books, but we are not even halfway through the Fantastic Beasts film series. There are meant to be five films in total, leading up to the duel between Dumbledore and Grindelwald. Johnny Depp and Jude Law didn't actually share any scenes together in the second movie, but Dumbledore saw Grindelwald's reflection in the Mirror of Erised, showing his greatest desire. Their relationship is still at the heart of the series, and we know they'll have to face off by the end of the franchise.

Fantastic Beasts 3 just delayed production because it's said to be bigger than the previous two films combined. Here's what we know about the movie so far. Keep track of everything headed to theaters this year with our 2019 movie schedule.

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Ron Howard Calls Out 'Trolling' As One Reason For Solo's Disappointing Box Office

Ron Howard Calls Out 'Trolling' As One Reason For Solo's Disappointing Box Office

Now that a full year has passed since Solo: A Star Wars Story hit theaters, fill-in director Ron Howard is sharing his nuanced take of what went right and what went wrong.

He jumped into the mix late in the game, after the departure of directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. The box office for the May 2018 movie was huge for Ron Howard, but disappointing by Star Wars' standards, and he knows that. However, he came in eager to help the team, and had a blast in his short experience in the galaxy. A year later, there's even a big push for Solo to get a sequel.

Here's part of Ron Howard answer on whether a Christmas release for Solo would've given it $100 million more than its spring release.

I feel very good about the way it turned out. I love the way it played to audiences, which I witnessed and was a part of. So all of that I'm able to feel good about. Sure, I wish it would've done [better] and lived up to the box office and so forth, so that's disappointing. Why? Maybe it's the release. Maybe it's the idea that it's sort of too nostalgic, going back and revisiting an origin story for a beloved character may not be what the fans were looking for. It kind of seemed to me, looking at it, the opening -- which was big, not as big as the others, it was probably my biggest opening, personally, it was still disappointing to them -- I think those are the hardcore fans. It sort of tells you how many people are tagalongs who need to wait to see what people think and whether it's essential, if it's a zeitgeist movie or not, and whether it's just 'I love Star Wars and I want to see what's next.'

Ron Howard had more to say on that topic on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, but I like his take on core Star Wars fans vs. "tagalongs" -- or casuals -- who wait to see if a movie becomes a major watercooler topic before jumping in with their own time or money. Casual fans sometimes wait for strong reviews from critics (Solo's reviews were middle-of-the-road) but even more often they wait to see fan reactions. They want to hear the buzz, see the audience ratings, scores, and word-of-mouth. (Think Venom.)

When the audience scores for Solo looked lower than usual, and words like "underperformed" and "disappointing" started coming out about the ticket sales, casual/tagalong fans might've come away thinking it was a movie they could safely skip. (The problems behind-the-scenes probably left more than a few fans expecting disaster, making them more wary to spend time and money on the movie.)

Here's more from Ron Howard on that angle, and how "trolling" from fans who hadn't even seen Solo yet may have led the tagalong types to pass on seeing Solo in the theater. Howard knows the pushback against Solo came from several different directions, but also included some Star Wars fans who were upset with Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

So whatever millions [Solo] made worldwide, those were the core fans, but it didn't hit that zeitgeist point, for whatever reason. Timing, young Han Solo, pushback from the previous movie, which I kept hearing was maybe something. And some trolling, definitely some trolling. Some actual aggressive... It was pretty interesting. Not so much, a little bit the Twitter feed, yes, but it was especially noticeable prior to the release of the movie. Several of the algorithms, whether it was Metacritic or Rotten Tomatoes, there was an inordinate push down on the 'want to see' and on the fan voting. And when you look at it, it's like 3, 4, 5 -- or whatever the rating is, I forget what the rating is on Rotten Tomatoes, whether it's a scale of 1-5 or 1-10 -- but pretty high, and then a series of 0s or .5s or 1s.

Yeah, Rotten Tomatoes has actually changed the audience score function now, wanting more proof that fans have actually seen the movies before they rate them. Non-fans could rate a movie "0" before it even came out, but that is changing now.

Ron Howard isn't too familiar with that online world, but he said some friends from Silicon Valley explained the algorithms to him and basically let him know Solo was being trolled by fans who were boycotting its existence, in addition to those who did actually watch the movie and just didn't like it. Howard praised young Han Solo star Alden Ehrenreich, who was put in the center of the fray, and noticed the backlash has turned more in favor of the movie a year later:

Under that circumstance, I didn't take it personally at all, but I felt badly. And I thought Alden didn't a really great job, an incredibly talented guy, and dedicated guy, and I had a blast with everybody. And look, a year later, it's kind of interesting, you wouldn't think you'd participate in a Star Wars project and have it be a cult movie, but I can already tell those who have affection for it are pretty adamant in their feelings, and that's nice.

Ron Howard already responded, briefly, to the Solo sequel campaign on Twitter. Is it likely to happen? Maybe. Probably not. The point seems more to show support for the movie, which was clobbered from all sides last year for disappointing the franchise. Now the quieter core fans are speaking up to say they liked Solo, thank you very much, and they would be happy to see the story continue.

Now Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is in the hot seat, as the final movie in the Skywalker Saga, but also the next trilogy movie after Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which divided a fandom that has been debating the merits of every new Star Wars addition since the arrival of Ewoks. The Rise of Skywalker opens in theaters December 20.

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How Candyman's Jordan Peele And Director Nia DaCosta Bonded Through Horror Fandom

How Candyman's Jordan Peele And Director Nia DaCosta Bonded Through Horror Fandom

This past weekend saw the phenomenal release of Jordan Peele’s Us, and the good news for those already hungry for more horror stories from the filmmaker is that he has many irons in the fire. For example, there is the new version of The Twilight Zone that he is producing and hosting for CBS All Access – but on the feature side of things there is the tremendously exciting new take on Candyman that he is making with writer/director Nia DaCosta.

News of DaCosta’s hiring came just a couple months after the announcement about the project’s development late last year, and also just a few months after the world premiere of her feature debut, Little Woods (which played at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival). In the time since, not much has been revealed about the direction of the new Candyman, but while sitting down with DaCosta this past weekend, I learned about a key ingredient in her collaboration with Jordan Peele:

I think something that we connect on a lot was the way we view horror, and our love of horror. I love Candyman, but also just like breaking down what horror is, how it's represented, what it means, and why it's important. I think we really connected on that, and so that's a lot of what our conversations have been about… that I can tell you (laughs). It's been great. He's a wonderful creator, collaborator, human, artist.

With the film set to be released in a few weeks, Little Woods held its Los Angeles press day on Sunday, and it was at the end of my interview with Nia DaCosta and star/executive producer Tessa Thompson that I inquired about the development of her upcoming horror remake. Specifically I asked about the conversations that she had been having with Jordan Peele, and she explained how a shared vision of what horror can do and why it’s effective is really driving their work together on Candyman.

Naturally I felt compelled to follow-up by asking about her philosophy in the genre, and what she stressed was both engaging with the audience, and also telling stories that bring home important messages in subversive ways. It’s a key staple of horror that has existed from the beginning, and a tradition that Nia DaCosta plans to uphold in her venture. Said the filmmaker,

What I like about genres like thrillers, and why I think tensions are important for all movies, including dramas, it's physicalizing what the characters are feeling for the audience. That's really important, and gets the audience to engage and to lean in. And then with horror you can sneak in messages. You know sneak in what you think about the world around you, and how actually horrifying the world is. You get to hide it in these layers. 'This is about a ghost, but really it's about paranoia and a woman's place in the world.' Or, you know, 'This is about a guy meeting his girlfriend's parents, but really it's about... Actually a guy meeting his girlfriend's parents.' (laughs)

Based on a short story by Clive Barker that was first adapted in 1992, Candyman centers on an urban legend that is being investigated by a college student – specifically one about a violent entity who appears and attacks anyone who dares to say his name five times into a mirror. Yahya Abdul-Matten II, who has earned notoriety in recent months thanks to his performance in James Wan’s Aquaman and Jordan Peele’s Us, is currently the only member of the cast, set to play the titular villain.

With Nia DaCosta directing and Jordan Peele and Win Rosenfeld writing the script, Candyman is currently on track to be released on June 12, 2020 – produced by Monkeypaw Productions and MGM. For those of you who want to get a taste of what DaCosta is bringing to the table as a filmmaker, however, (and I highly recommend that you do), Little Woods is set up with distribution from Neon, and will be getting a limited release starting on April 19th.

For more about the film, and more from my interview with Nia DaCosta and Tessa Thompson, be sure to stay tuned here on CinemaBlend!

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Original Child’s Play Director Co-Signs Mark Hamill’s Casting As Chucky

Original Child’s Play Director Co-Signs Mark Hamill’s Casting As Chucky

The next big horror franchise to get the reboot treatment is Child's Play. Over the weekend at WonderCon it was revealed that the new voice of the killer doll will be none other than Mark Hamill. The remake is currently a somewhat controversial project, but the announcement of Hamill's involvement has received a major endorsement from the co-writer and director of the original film, Tom Holland, who took to Twitter to call the casting a "smart movie."

While Chucky might not be quite in the same league as horror icons like Jason Voorhees or Freddy Krueger, the homicidal little doll certainly has a devoted fan base, which has been enjoying new Chucky films right up until recently. It's only been two years since the last film in the franchise was released, making the reboot a somewhat surprising decision for many.

Don Mancini, who originally created the character, and co-wrote the screenplay for the first film with Holland, has made it clear that he's less than thrilled with the remake. He's currently working on his own Child's Play TV series, but since he doesn't own the rights to the original movie, the remake is moving forward without him.

Tom Holland, not the Spider-Man guy, who also directed the original Fright Night and wrote Psycho II, has largely remained quiet regarding his feelings about the Child's Play remake. His endorsement of Mark Hamill isn't necessarily an endorsement of the project as a whole. One can certainly agree with a casting choice, even in a movie that you don't care for overall.

And it's unlikely many will take issue with this casting choice. While Mark Hamill will forever be known first as Luke Skywalker, the second thing that he's known for is his career as a voice actor. His most famous role in that regard is as the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series, which he has gone on to continue in numerous other Batman video games, animated movies, and other series.

Hamill is a great voice actor and there's little doubt he'll create a unique and interesting character with the new Chucky. The trailers haven't given us that good a look at the crazed doll, and his voice was obviously being kept back for a major reveal. Now that we have it, perhaps we'll get a new trailer soon that lets us hear Chucky's new voice.

Fans, especially those that strongly support Child's Play creator Tom Mancini, are likely still withholding judgement. Many like Jennifer Tilly who co-starred in several of the Child's Play sequels, have come out very publicly against the remake. Will the new Chucky be able to sway any of them to give the new movie a chance? We'll have to wait and see.

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