Oprah Winfrey vs Bride of Chucky

Chucky’s had many victims through the years such as John Ritter, Beef from Phantom of the Paradise and even Britney Spears. One that probably doesn’t come to mind is Oprah Winfrey.

I was recently listening to Still Processing’s episode on Jordan Peele’s film Us. While discussing that film they pointed out similarities between that film’s story and Toni Morrison’s novel Beloved. I soon went down an Internet wormhole and landed on the Wikipedia page for the film adaptation of Beloved that Oprah Winfrey produced. The film was sadly a box office failure, grossing only $22 million against an $80 million budget. It’s tragic for a variety of reasons. This project was so important to Oprah Winfrey that, according to IMDB facts, she dived into the experience of being a slave by being tied up, blindfolded and left in the woods for 24 hours.

Beloved was released during the month of October and while having a ghost haunting a family, Beloved apparently didn’t offer the right supernatural formula people crave during the Halloween season. Instead, the box office king that weekend was Bride of Chucky. According to what’s on the Wikipedia page, this was a soul sucking loss for Oprah.

“Winfrey has gone on public record stating that she ate 30 pounds of macaroni and cheese when she was informed the Saturday after the movie opened that ‘we got beat by something called Chucky.’ ” This loss sent Oprah into a bout with depression, which she recognized from the symptom being a subject on her talk show.

Similar to the way I was shocked to find out Charlize Theron has seen one of my all time favorite horror films, Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II,  it’s weird to realize Chucky is not only something Oprah Winfrey is aware of but something that had a notable impact on her life.