- Blumhouse and Universal have set a release date for The Black Phone 2, the sequel to the supernatural horror film.
- Director Scott Derrickson and actor Ethan Hawke will return for the sequel.
- The Black Phone, released in 2022, was a box office success and received critical acclaim.
Blumhouse and Universal have announced that they will collaborate once again with director Scott Derrickson for the sequel to the successful 2022 horror film, The Black Phone. The Black Phone 2 is set to premiere on June 27, 2025. Although details about the sequel are limited, Ethan Hawke has been confirmed to return as The Grabber, the condition Derrickson required for his involvement in the sequel.
The original film featured Hawke as a magician and mask-wearing child abductor and serial killer, The Grabber. He kidnaps a 13-year-old boy named Finney, who is played by Mason Thames. Finney discovers a disconnected phone in his kidnapper’s soundproof basement that connects him to The Grabber’s deceased victims, who try to help him survive. The Black Phone also starred Jeremy Davis, Madeleine McGraw, E. Roger Mitchell, Troy Rudeseal, James Ransone, and Miguel Cazarez Mora.
Upon its release in 2022, The Black Phone grossed $161 million worldwide and received positive reviews from critics who praised the cast’s performances. The film won the 2022 Saturn Award for Best Horror Film and the 2023 Hollywood Critics Association Film Award for Best Horror. The movie’s financial and critical success made the decision to continue the story an easy one.
The Black Phone was written by Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill, adapted from a short story of the same name by Joe Hill. Derrickson and Cargill also served as producers alongside Jason Blum for Blumhouse.
Confirmation of The Black Phone 2 came just weeks after Derrickson discussed a possible follow-up film. He stated that he would be open to revisiting the terrifying tale as long as Hawke reprised the role of the disturbing villain: “It’s possible. It’s not a definite thing, but if it does become definite, you’ll be the first to hear… I can tell you this much, I wouldn’t make a ‘Black Phone’ sequel without Ethan. I don’t think there’d be any point in doing that.”
Derrickson also explored the Black Phone universe through his contribution to V/H/S/85, the latest installment in the found footage franchise, which is now streaming on Shudder. In V/H/S/85, a character reveals a connection between the two films by mentioning characters related to The Black Phone’s story.