The Black Phone 2: Everything We Know

Director Scott Derrickson’s adaptation of the Joe Hill short story The Black Phone was well-received by critics and the general audience alike. 83% of the reviews listed on Rotten Tomatoes are positive, and more importantly it earned over $161 million at the box office on a budget of just under $20 million. The Black Phone doesn’t lend itself to being sequelized all that well. The story stands on its own and is wrapped up by the time the end credits start rolling… but when something is as successful as this movie was, that opens the sequel door. Indeed, Universal Pictures and Blumhouse Productions has announced that The Black Phone 2 will be released on June 27, 2025 – and the intention is that this sequel will be the “launch of a sinister new franchise.” How is this been possible? 

Here’s Everything We Know About The Black Phone 2

Before we get started, a reminder of what The Black Phone was all about. Mason Thames starred as Finney Shaw, a shy but clever 13-year-old boy, who is abducted by a sadistic killer and trapped in a soundproof basement where screaming is of little use. When a disconnected phone on the wall begins to ring, Finney discovers that he can hear the voices of the killer’s previous victims. And they are dead set on making sure that what happened to them doesn’t happen to Finney. Madeleine McGraw had a memorable role as Finney’s sister Gwen, who has psychic visions in her dreams (just like their mom did), and Ethan Hawke played the mask-wearing child killer, The Grabber.

The Black Phone 2: The Cast 

It seems like most of the cast is coming back for the sequel, including Mason Thames as Finney Shaw, Madeleine McGraw as Finney’s sister Gwen, Jeremy Davies as their dad Terrence, and Miguel Mora, whose only previous credit is The Black Phone, as Robin, a friend of Finney’s who was killed in the first movie. Plus, Ethan Hawke is reprising the role of the child-killer known as The Grabber. But how is that possible, given the fact that he was killed off at the end of the last film? 

What’s it About:

While no one knows anything about the premise yet, one way to bring The Grabber back and try to build him into a horror icon would be to turn him into a supernatural being who continues messing with children from beyond the grave. He could target a new batch of victims, or the idea of a supernatural Grabber could be mixed with the idea of focusing on Finney and Gwen. Maybe his evil spirit is still lingering around the siblings. Maybe they have to find a way to vanquish him, or maybe he just appears to them in their dreams and visions while they deal with a different situation. Either way, it’s difficult to imagine this approach working out in the long run, because it doesn’t seem like “Play a Horror Icon in Multiple Sequels” would be on Ethan Hawke’s To Do list.

Here’s a less appealing option – albeit one they don’t seem to be planning with the first sequel (the studio has mentioned many times that they plan on making this a franchise). Make it an anthology series. The anthology approach would introduce a whole new cast of characters. No Finney or Gwen, no Grabber. Instead, we’d follow other people who find themselves in a life-or-death situation and get help from beyond, just like Finney getting his supernatural phone calls while he was stuck in The Grabber’s basement. We could get a whole series of “Black Phone” movies that are only connected to each other by the set-up of spirits helping people out of a bad spot. Alas, if that happens, it won’t be with the first sequel, as Blumhouse has managed to entice all the original folks back for The Black Phone 2.

Will They Make It A Prequel About The Grabber?

So if they’re bringing The Grabber back as a flesh and blood character, there has to be a prequel element to the film. However, this could make it a pretty dark and depressing film, because there’s no way to get around the fact that The Grabber got away with his crimes for a long time before finally being stopped. Maybe it will focus on the backstory of one of his victims. Time will tell. 

Who’s Directing it.

While the first movie’s director, Scott Derrickson, has yet to confirm or deny his involvement in a sequel, he did seem open to the possibility before the first film opened and indeed celebrated the sequel’s 2025 release date on Twitter. Recently, producer Ryan Turek confirmed he would be back, saying: “Yeah, Scott’s coming back. I think it’s too early to talk about anything else regarding that, but yeah [Derrickson’s returning].”

At any rate, any movement on The Black Phone 2 seems to be a ways off, with the movie only set for a release in the summer of 2025, but certainly, it’s going to be one of the most anticipated horror movies of that year. 

Do you have any ideas for how a sequel to The Black Phone could work? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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