Starting in 1989, the Puppet Master franchise has dished out 12 installments, as well as the crossover film Puppet Master vs Demonic Toys. Needless to say, the franchise is very near an dear to many horror fans, including myself.
The recently released Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich, serves as more of a re-imagining of the series and isn't an official sequel. Though The Littlest Reich is a fantastic film, I was worried that the original franchise would be left in the dust. Well, in a recent interview with ComicBook.com, Charles Band reassured that the franchise has been set up to continue as two independent entities! Read on for more.
“When Dallas [Sonnier] came to me from Cinestate, he says, ‘You know, Charlie, I wanna do a Puppet Master remake. We have a really cool idea. It’s gonna be very dark and unlike those other offers you’ve been telling me about, we’ll make you an offer; we’ll make this movie and it’s gonna be on its own separate track. It’s gonna live in its own world. You can continue making all your Puppet Master movies and we’ll keep making these if they’re successful.‘ So it was very unique.”
What this essentially means is that not only can Band develop his original franchise as he sees fit, but Cinestate can continue the events of Littlest Reich and essentially create its own franchise.
Band, who served as executive producer on The Littlest Reich, continued, “I don’t know if it has existed anywhere else where someone comes in makes a bigger budgeted reboot and lets the original filmmaker keep making his own Puppet Master movies. But that’s what’s really unique about this deal and why I’m happy they’ve gone gonzo and did some crazy stuff, ’cause I think it’ll bring attention, if nothing else, to the Puppet Master world. But their Puppet Master is inspired by ours, but different. In terms of the merchandising, which we’re very heavily into, they’ll keep making theirs if it goes well and we’ll be able to keep making our Puppet Master series.”
Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich is now available on VOD and Digital HD.
