While rumors were circulating about the sequel to 2009's bizarre horror hit Orphan as far back as 2020, fans will wait no more! Isabelle Fuhrman is reprising her oddly iconic break-out role as Esther, the murderous woman disguised as a child, in this year's fast-approaching prequel Orphan: First Kill, hitting theaters this August as an exciting appetizer for spooky season. After Paramount Pictures Studios debuted the film's first theatrical trailer, brand-new images have been released, showcasing the eerie way the crew brought a young Esther back to the big screen.
Over a decade ago filmmaker Jaume Collet-Serra, director of DCEU's upcoming Black Adam, changed the game for the creepy-little-girl horror trope with Orphan, in which Esther (Fuhrman) plagued her new adoptive family soon after the recent loss of their unborn child. The couple, played by Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard, were remiss to discover that not only was their nine-year-old child actually a 33-year-old woman by the name of Leena but that she was a serial killer. Yikes.
Now, in an attempt to pull off something that has never before been done in cinema, horror director William Brent Bell (The Devil Inside) is bringing Fuhrman back for a prequel that explores how Leena became 9-year-old Esther. Talk about a mind-bender: a young adult imitating a 33-year-old woman posing as a child. According to an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Fuhrman said, "We didn’t use special effects, we didn’t use any crazy makeup tricks," and it's difficult to wrap your brain around when you see the images of young Esther.
Fuhrman on seeing the final production of Orphan: First Kill:
“I was there every day. I know how we did this. I know all the tricks, and I’m so thoroughly disturbed right now because I somehow am 9 years old again, and it doesn’t make any sense. I was like, ‘How do I revisit this part and then also convincingly play a kid?’ Because that was the easy part last time — the hard part was trying to be an adult! Now the hard part is I have to be a kid.”
First Kill will see actress Julia Stiles returning to the genre as Tricia Albright, the mother of a missing child Esther, who Fuhrman's Leena will assume the identity of in order to escape an Estonian psychiatric facility and catch a ride to America. The images show a frightened Stiles gripping a butcher knife, torn between a mother's love for her previously-missing child and the creeping suspicion that Esther isn't who she says she is. Between Rossif Sutherland as Esther's father Allen Albright, shown gripping his returned daughter in a tight embrace, Stiles may have a difficult time exposing Leena's fearsome performance.
With a screenplay adapted by David Coggeshall (Scream: The TV Series) from a story by the original Orphan writers David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick and Alex Mace, First Kill will hopefully have a seamless connection to its predecessor, leading into the events of Esther's adoption. Joining Fuhrman, Stiles, and Sutherland in the cast are Hiro Kanagawa as Donnan, Matthew Finlan, Lauren Cochrane as Officer Leahy, and more.
Orphan: First Kill releases in theaters, digitally and will be streaming on Paramount+ on August 19. Check out the trailer and more images below:
Here's the official synopsis for 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.