Given how the 2009 horror film Orphan ended (spoiler alert for anyone who hasn't seen it, and should avoid the rest of this story), it's hard to imagine a prequel having quite the same impact. Still, that's the uphill climb faced by director William Brent Bell, who has jumped aboard a film called Esther.
The 2009 film, directed by Jaume Collet-Serra saw a grieving family adopt a 9-year-old girl called Esther (played there by Isabelle Fuhrman). It turns out that she's really not quite what she seems and the results are terrifying for the parents and all around them. But given that the twist about Esther's true identity digs into her background, the prequel will begin with that information out in the open, leading us to wonder what revelations remain.
Still, writer David Coggeshall thinks he has the answer, working on a script that follows Lena Klammer, who escapes from a Russian psychiatric facility and makes her way to America impersonating the missing daughter of a wealthy family. That puts her in direct conflict with a mother who will do anything to protect her brood. We know the title character will survive the encounter, since she goes on to the events of Orphan, so it'll be the journey that matters.
Bell has been a busy filmmaker – horror sequel Brahms: The Boy II arrives in cinemas this weekend and he's already got another film, Separation, chugging through the closing stages of post-production. Esther, meanwhile, should start shooting later this year.