Davika Hoorne will return for a sequel to the Thai psychological horror Inherit, director Banjong Pisanthanakun confirmed in an exclusive interview with Variety published on 7 November. The film, which world-premiered in Toronto’s Centrepiece section in September and is closing the Jakarta World Cinema festival, opens across Thailand on 19 November.
Key facts
- Confirmation: Banjong Pisanthanakun tells Variety a sequel to Inherit is planned; Davika Hoorne will return
- Title: Inherit (GDH 559; directed by Pisanthanakun; starring Hoorne as Woranart; with Baipor Thitiya Jirapornsilp as Oui)
- Path: TIFF Centrepiece world premiere, September 2026; Jakarta World Cinema closing film; Thailand theatrical release 19 November 2026
- Sales: Barunson E&A handles non-Asia (incl. North America, Europe, Middle East, airlines); GDH 559 handles Asia; Tofu Films co-produces
- Prior link: Pisanthanakun and Hoorne first teamed on Pee Mak (2013), Thailand’s highest-grossing local film
From TIFF Centrepiece to a sequel call
Inherit follows the Manasvanich family as Hoorne’s Woranart, a grandmother whose youthful looks hide a centuries-old centipede spirit, moves in and fixes on the youngest member, Oui. The film adapts the Thai novel Tayard Asoon (The Demon’s Heir), and marks the pair’s first reunion since Pee Mak, the horror-comedy still cited as Thailand’s all-time local box-office leader. Hoorne also starred in A Useful Ghost, which took the Critics’ Week Grand Prix at Cannes in 2025. She has described that title and Inherit as her return to cinema, after choosing projects carefully.
Pisanthanakun told Variety that Hoorne was his first choice for the immortal grandmother, describing a modern, adaptable figure he first pictured sunbathing by a pool. On set he pointed her toward Sharon Stone’s Catherine Tramell in Basic Instinct and Anthony Hopkins’ Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs. The director, who broke through with Shutter and later made The Medium with Korean producer-director Na Hong-jin, said he wants Inherit’s concepts and atmosphere to feel specific rather than concept-driven jump scares of earlier Thai horror cycles.
Thai release stakes and what is still open
Pisanthanakun told Variety the Thai film industry is under pressure and that he wants Inherit to bring audiences back to cinemas. He said public funding for Thai production is neither strong nor consistent, and that what exists tends to favour horror. Hoorne, who has moved into producing girls’ love titles popular in Thailand, told the same interview that government support for independent themes with international reach would help, and that raising money outside proven genres remains hard. She has directed a family short, Soap Opera, which recently wrapped, and plans to focus on television series in 2027. Pisanthanakun is separately leading a Thai–Korean horror co-production; Variety names neither that title nor a budget or start date for the Inherit sequel.
Sales and release terms for the sequel were not disclosed. Barunson E&A’s non-Asia mandate and GDH 559’s Asia sales on the first film, reported when Screen International carried the trailer in August, remain the clearest map of how the property has travelled so far. No writer, production window or cast beyond Hoorne’s return has been announced for the follow-up.
Southeast Asian horror keeps finding theatrical routes beside it. Indonesia’s Kuasa Gelap: Perjanjian Darah cleared a million admissions, and AFM packages such as Letitia Wright’s In Her Shadow show buyers still chasing named-talent supernatural titles. Thailand’s craft profile also rose when Sompot Chidgasornpongse took best director at the 2026 Asia Pacific Screen Awards for 9 Temples to Heaven.
Our reading
For buyers already tracking Inherit through TIFF and Jakarta, Pisanthanakun’s on-record sequel call with Hoorne attached is a pipeline signal, not a closed package. The first film has not yet opened in Thailand, so the follow-up’s value still rides on Thai admissions and how Barunson’s non-Asia sales land. The next evidence is the 19 November Thai opening and any territory announcement that names a budget or co-financier for part two. Until then, treat the Variety interview as cast-and-intent confirmation, not a financed greenlight.
Related: Indonesian horror Kuasa Gelap clears 1 million admissions; Wright boards In Her Shadow for Bankside; Asia Pacific Screen Awards 2026.
Sources
- Variety (Jenny S. Li), 7 November 2026. Exclusive interview – Banjong Pisanthanakun confirms Inherit sequel; Davika Hoorne returning; TIFF Centrepiece premiere; Jakarta World Cinema closing; Thai release 19 Nov; Pee Mak reunion; character notes; Thai industry and funding comments; Hoorne producing and 2027 TV focus; Thai-Korean co-production note
- Variety (Naman Ramachandran), 14 September 2026. Inherit TIFF Centrepiece context – novel source Tayard Asoon / The Demon’s Heir; cast; Pee Mak BO claim; A Useful Ghost Cannes Critics’ Week Grand Prix 2025
- Screen International (Michael Rosser), 4 August 2026. Trailer and sales – Barunson E&A non-Asia; GDH 559 Asia; Tofu Films; Thai release 19 Nov; novel first feature adaptation