Twenty-five years after Session 9 first brought viewers into the creepy halls of Danvers State Mental Hospital, writer/director Brad Anderson is developing a prequel that will explore the origins of one of the movie’s most disturbing characters. During a 25th anniversary screening of Session 9 at Mass Mini Con, Anderson and writer/actor Stephen Gevedon took part in a Q&A where they revealed that they’re developing a prequel called Session 1. The news was reported by our friends at Bloody Disgusting, who credited Broke Horror Fan‘s Alex DiVincenzo with sharing video from the event.
According to Anderson, Session 1 would tell the origin story of Mary Hobbes, the young woman whose history is at the center of Session 9.
“Would that be of interest? To see a movie that’s about the origin story? So we’ve been toying with this for a while. But we have a pitch for a movie that’s sort of a prequel to Session 9. It’s called Session 1. It’s really about the origin story of Mary Hobbes, the young girl in the movie… the woman who has the multiple personality disorder.”
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Anderson went on to explain that the proposed movie would take place years before the events of Session 9 and explore Mary Hobbes’ childhood in Boston.
“It’s about her life, growing up in the late ’60s in Boston, and what happened to her and how she got possessed. And how she killed her family. I’m saying that because we’re trying to get that movie off the ground and we think there’s an audience for that.”
So, while Session 1 is currently a project that Anderson and Gevedon are developing rather than a greenlit production, the filmmaker has clearly been thinking about the story for some time. The proposed prequel would also take the Session 9 mythology in a different direction, moving away from the abandoned Danvers State Mental Hospital (which makes sense, since the location has been demolished in real life) and focusing on the childhood of the character whose story haunts the original film.
Released in 2001, Session 9 stars Peter Mullan, David Caruso, Josh Lucas, Steven Gevedon, and Brendan Sexton III as members of a hazardous materials crew hired to clean up the abandoned Danvers State Mental Hospital. As they work their way through the enormous, deteriorating asylum, they uncover disturbing recordings and secrets from the hospital’s past, while tensions within the crew begin to spiral.
The movie leaves plenty of room for interpretation. Is the horror supernatural? Is someone being possessed? Or are the characters mentally unraveling under the pressure of their surroundings? That ambiguity has helped Session 9 remain a favorite among horror fans more than two decades after its release.
There isn’t yet a release date, cast or production timeline for Session 1, and Anderson’s comments make it clear that the project is still in development. But the idea of returning to the world of Session 9 after 25 years is intriguing, especially with Anderson himself looking to tell Mary Hobbes’ story.
For fans of the original, the prequel Session 1 could finally reveal what happened to Mary Hobbes before the events that made Session 9 such an unsettling descent into madness. Would you be interested in seeing that? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
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