The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning is a 2006 American slasher film that functions as a prequel to the 2003 remake, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Directed by Jonathan Liebesman and co-produced by Kim Henkel and Tobe Hooper (co-creators of the original 1974 film), the film went into release in North America on October 6, 2006. The film's story takes place four years before the timeline of the 2003 remake. It stars Jordana Brewster, Diora Baird, Taylor Handley, Matt Bomer, and R. Lee Ermey.
Originally, the film had the subtitle The Origin. New Line Cinema had to pay $3.1 million more than expected in order to keep the rights to the franchise after Dimension Films made a large offer to buy it from the original rightholders. The film grossed less than half of what the original film had grossed.
On August 28, 1939, a woman dies giving birth to a male child in a meat-packing plant in Travis County, Texas. The plant manager disposes of the baby's body in a dumpster near the packing plant and leaves the scene. A young woman, Luda Mae Hewitt, discovers the baby in the dumpster while searching for food for her family. She names the infant Thomas and takes him to the Hewitt residence, raising him as her own son, who later grows up to be Leatherface.