Watch out — Esther's back! Having been introduced to the world in Jaume Collet-Serra's 2009 chiller Orphan and then given the prequel treatment with 2022's Orphan: First Kill, Isabelle Fuhrman's modern horror icon Esther Coleman is gearing up to return to our screens and wreak havoc upon a new unsuspecting family. Per Variety's exclusive reporting, Orphan 3 is officially in the works at Lionsgate and Dark Castle Entertainment, with the project set to sell at the American Film Market next week.

Orphan: First Kill writer David Coggeshall and director William Brent Bell are both returning alongside Fuhrman for the horror threequel, which will continue the story of the genre's scariest *SPOILER WARNING* thirty-something-year-old-in-a-nine-year-old's-body. And whilst plot details for the latest movie remain under lock and key for now at least, Dark Castle Entertainment co-CEO Norman Golightly is already fuelling the Orphan hype train. "Dark Castle is excited to announce another terrifying chapter in the Orphan saga,” he said in a statement accompanying the film's announcement. “With the past success of the first two movies and another thrilling storyline, we are confident that Orphan 3 will be a must-see movie for both current fans of the franchise, and new fans alike.”

Given how the first Orphan movie ended, it's fairly safe to assume a third film in the franchise will continue to go down the prequel route — unless, of course, Coggeshall and Brent somehow contrive a way out of the first movie's gnarly snapped neck/frozen lake combo finale. But honestly, having somehow successfully reframed Esther as a kind of girlboss figure in First Kill, all bets are off as to where this franchise may go next. Orphan 3 could be a sequel, could be a prequel, could be a cross-over for all we know (Esther vs. Chucky anyone? Esther vs. Damien? Esther vs. that little antichrist kid from The Swiss Family Robinson?). One thing's for sure though — whatever it is, we'll be ready and waiting to take another Orphan into our hearts whenever it arrives.