Variety reports that director Mark Pellington, whose credits include Arlington Road, The Mothman Prophecies, some episodes of Cold Case, and Pearl Jam's "Jeremy" video, is in talks to remake The Orphanage en ingles. The 2007 Spanish-language original is a haunted-house story about a woman who returns to the seaside orphanage she grew up in and transforms it into a home for disabled children. Things get scary when her adopted son goes missing and she begins receiving visits from Tomas, her son’s masked “imaginary” friend and the creepiest kid in cinema history.
Guillermo del Toro served as a producer on the original, but returns as a co-screenwriter on the remake along with indie horror master Larry Fessenden, whom the AV Club spoke to back in August. That pedigree certainly sweetens the pot some.
Here is a clip of little Tomas coming out to play in the original. Stick through the full clip to see Belen Rueda remove masks from children in an impersonation of Edward Malus.