Halloween may be over, but Scott Derrickson is just getting started on bringing some brand new terror into the movie world. The Doctor Strange and Sinister director delivered a horror hit in 2022 in the form of The Black Phone, a Joe Hill adaptation for Blumhouse that starred Ethan Hawke. After receiving rave reviews, and earning more than $160 million at the box office, The Black Phone is getting the sequel treatment, and work on the follow-up has now officially begun.
The Black Phone 2 has been in the works for a while now, but the cameras finally started rolling on Monday. Derrickson shared a photo from the set on social media, showing the logo for The Black Phone 2 on the back of his chair. He confirmed in the caption that the sequel had indeed started production.
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Plot details about The Black Phone 2 are mostly being kept under wraps, but there are already a ton of questions about the new film amongst fans. Many of them stem from the return of star Ethan Hawke.
In The Black Phone, Hawke played a villain known as the Grabber, who kidnapped kids and held them captive, before killing them. At the end of the film, the Grabber was thwarted and seemingly killed, therefore ending his story. However, Hawke was already confirmed as the star of The Black Phone 2, which means his character is likely coming back. We just have no idea how.
The prevailing theory is that he will be speaking to the main characters in The Black Phone 2 from beyond the grave. That was a major plot point of the first film, as the kids who had been previously killed by the Grabber would call the film’s protagonist, Finney (Mason Thames), on the phone in the basement where he was being held. It was through the help of those that went before that Finney was able to escape and bring the Grabber to justice.
There’s also another supernatural connection in the forms of Finney’s sister, Gwen (Madeleine McGraw), who has visions of things before they happen. Both Thames and McGraw are set to reprise their roles for The Black Phone 2, which opens the door for a supernatural return from the Grabber in the sequel.
The first Black Phone was based on a short story by Joe Hill, so there was a blueprint for fans to check out ahead of the movie’s release. Hill developed the story for The Black Phone 2, but it’s not a published situation like the original, so everyone outside of the creative team is going in blind.
Universal has dated The Black Phone 2 for release on October 17, 2025.
