ADAM FRAZIER
I recently attended The Mad Monster Party in Charlotte, North Carolina, a horror and science-fiction convention that featured “Child’s Play” and “Blade Runner” reunion panels, as well as a discussion with ”The Walking Dead”’s Chandler Riggs (who plays Carl Grimes) and Addy Miller, who portrayed the show’s first zombie (the little teddy bear-toting girl that chases Rick). Here are some juicy bits of information:
Child’s Play:
There are reportedly two “Child’s Play” projects in the works: a remake and a spin-off of sorts involving Chucky’s immediate family, “Revenge of Chucky.” The reunion panel featured Alex Vincent, Brad Dourif and Chris Sarandon and Dourif confirmed that he’s involved in both projects but has not seen a script for the “Child’s Play” remake yet.
Don Mancini and David Kirschner have been planning to reboot the franchise for several years, and this remake will be written and directed by Mancini. The film will be a darker and scarier retelling of the original film, but one that will offer new twists and turns.
The Walking Dead:
Chandler Riggs confirmed that actor Jeffrey Demunn, who portrayed Dale Horvath on ”The Walking Dead”, quit the show. “After Darabont left, he was like ‘I’m out of here.” As you might remember, showrunner Frank Darabont (“The Shawshank Redemption”) was unceremoniously fired by AMC last year. Demunn, who was a regular in Darabont’s films (having roles in “The Green Mile,” “The Shawshank Redemption” and “The Mist”) was crushed by Darabont’s firing and left after he was no longer involved with the show.
So it seems like Dale would have lasted longer, but the character had to be killed off to make way for Demunn’s departure. The whole situation is reminiscent of Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje’s exit from ABC’s “Lost” as Mr. Eko. The showrunners had big plans for the character and had to kill the character off prematurely because the actor wanted off the show. It worked out for AMC though, Dale’s death was shocking to people emotionally invested in the show.
Chandler also talked about Season 3 of ”The Walking Dead”, which will consist of 16 episodes. Shooting begins May 7th and ends in December. While the show will mostly take place in the newly-discovered prison, Chandler comments that there will still be plenty of action outdoors, citing the watchtowers which will no doubt be used keep an eye on walkers. “We’ll probably need a farm too, so maybe Herschel can help with that.”
While he’s enjoying his time on ”The Walking Dead”, Chandler is interested in the science-fiction genre and actually auditioned for “Ender’s Game” but lost out to Asa Butterfield of “Hugo.” The actors haven’t received in scripts for Season 3 yet, but Chandler is excited to see what happens with The Governor and Michonne…
