The Blackening sequel is in development

When director Tim Story’s horror comedy The Blackening was released back in June, co-writer and star Dewayne Perkins told Variety that he envisioned the film being the start of a franchise, one that could bring back the “same group, sprinkle in some new people. I feel like we’ve got something good, and I love the dynamic, but fresh blood always turns things up a little bit.” Now Variety has confirmed that a sequel to The Blackening is officially in development!

The Blackening didn’t exactly set the box office of fire, earning just $18.5 million… but since the movie had a budget of $3 million (plus another $2 million for marketing), that’s enough for producer MRC and domestic distributor Lionsgate to feel that it’s worth going back to for a sequel. They’re developing the follow-up with Perkins, co-writer Tracy Oliver, and producer E. Brian Dobbins.

Story directed The Blackening from a screenplay by Oliver and Perkins. Inspired by a Perkins-scripted 3Peat comedy sketch that aired on Comedy Central in 2018, the film is about a group of Black friends who go away for the weekend only to find themselves trapped in a cabin with a killer who forces them to play a game with life-or-death consequences. The idea asks a reasonable question: since it seems that Black characters are usually the earliest victims in horror films, what happens when all the characters are Black?

Perkins (The Upshaws) stars in the film alongside Antoinette Robertson (Dear White People), Sinqua Walls (Shark Night), Grace Byers (Empire), X Mayo (The Farewell), Melvin Gregg (The Way Back), Jermaine Fowler (The Drop), Yvonne Orji (Insecure), Jay Pharoah (Unsane), James Preston Rogers (Pixels), and Diedrich Bader (Office Space).

Lionsgate’s Jason Constantine has said that The Blackening is “a wildly entertaining horror movie that delivers jump-out-of-your-seat scares while also hilariously subverting the genre.” Story, Dobbins, and Oliver produced the film with Marcei A. Brown, Jason Clark, and Sharla Sumpter Bridgett. Perkins co-produced, and Vicky Story is associate producer. Our own Tyler Nichols gave the film a 6/10 review, and you can check that out at THIS LINK.

Are you a fan of The Blackening, and are you glad to hear it’s getting a sequel? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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