EXCLUSIVE: Republic Pictures has taken U.S. rights to the Orphan franchise prequel, Orphans, from Dark Castle Entertainment. The movie, which is wrapping production soon, has Isabelle Fuhrman reprising her role as Esther.
Stephen Moyer (True Blood), Susanne Wuest (Goodnight Mommy), and Simon Man (Westworld) also star.
Orphans, the prequel to 2022’s Orphan: First Kill, reteams director William Brent Bell and screenwriter David Coggeshall. Bell is also an EP.
The first movie, released by Warner Bros in 2009 from Dark Castle and Appian Way, made close to $78M at the global box office while the 2022 sequel released by Paramount grossed over $37M (all-in franchise is currently $115M at the worldwide box office).
Orphans is produced and financed by Dark Castle, with Lionsgate representing international rights. Republic Pictures holds U.S. rights to the film and Sejin Croninger, EVP, Worldwide Acquisitions, Paramount Pictures brokered the deal with Dark Castle’s Norman Golightly.
““”Surrounding Isabelle with Stephen, Simon, and Susanne will deliciously add to the twists, turns, and kills that Orphan fans have come to love and expect from the franchise,” said Golightly.
“We’re thrilled to bring the next chapter of the Orphan franchise to audiences across the U.S. Dark Castle has built an iconic series and this new installment expands that world in bold and unexpected ways,” said Croninger.
Producers are Golightly of Dark Castle and franchise returnees Alex Mace of Gnosis Films and David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick. Fuhrman also serves as executive producer alongside Kelly Gallagher and Victor Moyers.
Co-Producers are Robert Bell, Josh Ethier, and Hero Squared’s Jonathan Halperyn and Daniel Kresmery, who are overseeing the film’s shoot in Budapest. The film is being shot by Maxime Alexandre (Crawl) and edited by Ethier.