Child's Play is a horror film franchise created by Don Mancini, with its first installment, Child's Play, being released on November 9, 1988. The film has so far spawned four sequels and has gone into other media, such as comic books. The films all feature Chucky, a killer Good Guys doll with the soul of the "Lakeshore Strangler" Charles Lee Ray. The films have grossed over US$176 million at the worldwide box office. The series originally started out aiming towards a straight-out horror theme with Child's Play, Child's Play 2 and Child's Play 3, but became more as a horror/comedy as they went on, especially starting with 1998's Bride of Chucky and more so with 2004's Seed of Chucky. As of March 2012, there are plans for both a sixth installment and an official reboot of the franchise. On June 23, 2012, it was confirmed that a fifth sequel to Child's Play will be made under the title Curse of Chucky and be released direct-to-video.