Movies
‘Orphan 3’ – William Brent Bell is Actively Developing a Sequel
William Brent Bell (The Boy, Separation) stepped into the director’s chair for Orphan: First Kill, a prequel film that solidified Esther’s killer icon status. The filmmaker revealed that he’s actively developing a follow-up, ensuring Esther’s killer hijinks will continue.
“We’re developing a third one now. The franchise’s rulebook has been opened up to where anything is possible,” Bell said in an interview with THR. “And knowing where we are in the process already, I’m extremely excited about the twists and turns that we have in store.”
The prequel, written by David Coggeshall, saw Isabelle Fuhrman reprising the role of Esther thanks to clever production trickery.
In Orphan: First Kill, “Esther’s terrifying saga continues in this thrilling prequel to the original and shocking horror hit, Orphan. After orchestrating a brilliant escape from an Estonian psychiatric facility, Esther travels to America by impersonating the missing daughter of a wealthy family. Yet, an unexpected twist arises that pits her against a mother who will protect her family from the murderous ‘child’ at any cost.”
Fuhrman faced off against Julia Stiles in the prequel movie, and Vera Farmiga in the original film. Who do you want to see Esther battle next?
While Bell didn’t divulge any plot details for the third entry, he did tease of its direction, “now that we’ve gone another direction with the second one, the franchise’s rulebook has been opened up to where anything is possible.” And, “knowing where we are in the process already, I’m extremely excited about the twists and turns that we have in store.”
After making $12.2 million worldwide in theaters in 2022 – the film only hit a maximum of 557 theaters at the height of its run here in the United States – it should come as no surprise that the franchise would likely return.
Stay tuned for more details as they arrive. In the meantime, Bell’s latest horror effort, Lord of Misrule, released on VOD and in theaters last week.
Before updating the video nasty Faces of Death, director Daniel Goldhaber and writer Isa Mazzei explored the dangers of online life in tech-thriller Cam, their feature debut that was acquired by Netflix in 2018 after making waves on the festival circuit.
At the end of last year, the Netflix exclusive quietly departed from the streaming platform, left without another streaming home.
It’s not an isolated story; Mike Flanagan’s Hush also left streaming entirely for a period until it was finally picked up on both physical media and other streaming services.
While the tech-thriller currently isn’t available to watch on Netflix, Tubi, Hulu, or any other platforms, that’s not a problem for Cam thanks to a very cool move by Goldhaber: the director has made his breakout film accessible to watch online for free via his website.
As his site notes: “CAM is unfortunately not currently available to view on any platforms, so you can watch it here if you like :).“
No subscriptions or fees necessary, just hit play.
Cam follows Alice (Madeline Brewer), who works as an online cam girl obsessed with her ranking on the cam site. The higher her ranking goes, the more it draws unwanted attention, and Alice soon finds herself replaced on her own show with a doppelganger.
Written by Mazzei, a former camgirl, it uses the horror thriller premise to examine the life of a sex worker; Alice’s career ambition is directly at odds with the shame it brings to her family, and how she tries to spare them from it by keeping them in the dark. It only compounds her danger when the doppelganger enters the equation in Goldhaber’s engaging thriller.
For a deep dive into the treacherous world of Cam, listen to Horror Queers’ episode on it now.
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